Another Chance, Another Adventure: REWRITTEN
by senjutobiramas
Summary: Annie, a girl from this world has grown up thinking she was normal, despite the strange dreams and visions she's had. Then a strange group of ninjas called the Akatsuki end up in her world, Annie then finds herself on an adventure to help them get back to their world. But along the way she uncovers certain truths that turn her world upside down...
1. Summer break

**Hello again everyone!**

**So as you can see, I've decided to rewrite my story 'Another chance, another adventure'. I was going to rewrite all the chapters and just re-upload them onto the previous story, but changed my mind and decided just to make a separate new story. I hope you guys don't mind this, I just decided to change the story and have new, cooler ideas for it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Naruto characters, which are property of Masashi Kishimoto, O.C.s belong to me though.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

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Chapter 1: Summer break

The sun shone brightly, seeming to burn down on the seats of jeep. Only the lightest breeze blew through the school parking lot and Annie sighed, running a hand through her hair. The radio was playing quietly as she looked at her phone.

"Today is the last day of classes for the school district," The radio host said, Annie couldn't help but roll her eyes "And it looks like it's going to be a good summer. The next few days or so are supposed to be about 27 degrees, so make sure to wear sunscreen and wear lots of sunscreen folks!"

"That's if I actually go outside and do something fun," Annie grumbled, she looked at her reflection in the rear view mirror. Her skin was ivory, pale, and her eyes a bluish green, her mom had told her that they were the colour of the ocean. Her hair was naturally red, but she had died it brown for the sake of getting less of the 'ginger' comment. People had mad fun of her for her red hair, while others said it was beautiful. She was told by a few that she was pretty, but she believed that there was nothing extraordinary about her.

Her phone vibrated, it was a text message, she tapped the screen of her iPhone to open the text message and read it.

_Are you in the parking lot?_

The message was from her friend Zana, she replied with a 'yes' but before she sent it, something or someone jumped into the passenger seat. She rolled her eyes, seeing that it was Zana, who laughed.

"Surprise!" She yelled, grinning "It's the last day of school!"

"No shit Sherlock," Annie said "I thought it was the first."

Zana laughed, her dark hair was short and she wore it down today, she was about Annie's height with dark tanned skin. They had been friends since middle school, along with Tara.

Annie slipped her phone into her pocket "I guess we should get to class, eh? Don't want to be late for the last day of classes."

"We have about 15 minutes," Zana shrugged "But maybe we should head inside, Tara's probably waiting for us somewhere."

They both stepped out of the car and headed inside the school. It was the same as every day of the year, kids wandered the hallways or hung out by the lockers, Tara and her boyfriend Billy were waiting by Annie's locker, they waved at her and Zana when they saw them approaching. Tara had been best friends with Annie since they were in preschool, she was about as tall as her as well, around 5'4", thin, with long wild curly hair. Annie had never been too fond of her boyfriend Billy though, he had short, curly, messy brown hair and always wore distressed dirty jeans and baggy t-shirts. He sometimes smelled like pot, Annie was used to the smell but it didn't mean that she liked it.

She opened her locker, throwing some of her text books in it "So… What's the plan for after school?"

"Stotem falls?" Tara suggested "Zana, are you down for that? Would Sam be able to come?"

Sam did not go to their school, which was Vanier, she went to a different highschool in town called Isfeld. Annie had been friends with her since Elementary school, until she moved out of town, but came back to the Comox valley in grade 7. They had discussed plans to hang out after class, but they weren't sure of what exactly to do, considering there wasn't much to do in a small town like the Comox Valley.

"I'll shoot her a text, but I'm sure she will be able to come," Annie said "Honestly… Later on this summer we should do something fun, like go to Tofino or Vancouver… Something like that."

"Go on random adventure? Sounds good to me," Tara smiled.

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of classes. If there was something that Annie wouldn't miss, it was the annoying bell… It was more like a long beep, but still annoying. Most of the kids started to make their way to class, but Annie, Zana, Tara and Billy stayed by the lockers.

"Did your dad leave town?" Tara asked

"Yeah…" Annie said, her dad was an RCMP officer, and also a member of the E.R.T "He went to Ontario to help teach new E.R.T recruits or something."

"Sounds fun," Zana said "I don't want to get yelled at for being late to class, so I'll see you guys later."

With a wave, Zana, Tara and Billy left, leaving Annie by herself. She closed her locker, but froze. Everything before her had started to go blurry and instead of seeing the dull gray lockers, she was seeing flashes of some sort of vision… She red eyes with a strange pattern in them, a man with an orange mask and a large oak tree. One she had seen many times in dreams before.

'_Why is this happening?' _she thought, this wasn't the first time it happened, but she could never figure out why it did.

"ANNIE HARKER!" She whipped her head around to see Mr. Young standing at the end of the hallway. "You're late for class, get moving!"

She rolled her eyes and headed off to her class, which was English. Even when she walked into the class room, the teacher wasn't there. _'Typical of Mr. Olson not to be here yet, he's probably talking about his life changing journey to India or some shit.'_

Annie slumped into her seat, saying hello to her friends who sat beside her. She couldn't help but look at the clock, the time was about 9:03 AM, and she groaned, hoping that this day would go by fast.

"Jesus christ Tara, stop that!"

Tara grinned evilly "Stop what?"

"Poking me!" Zana complained "Stop poking me!"

Annie laughed at her friends, as they continued to tease each other by throwing things at each other. She flipped open her notebook, clicking her pen and then started to write.

_June 26 2011_

_Today is the last day of school, it feels like this day couldn't have come any faster. The past few months have been hell, making the time seem to go by slowly. But I am thankful for my friends for getting me through these past few months, Dad especially. Mom has been away on a Missionary trip to South Africa, so Dad's been very protective. He's always been very protective of me, but as I get older, his fear of letting me go or something happening to me, seems to grow more. I am 17 years old now, but I still have a curfew, I am not allowed to go to any parties on the weekend. _

_But I guess that's not really the point… Dad's now away in Ontario or somewhere for ERT training, he's helping to train new recruits. I'm surprised he didn't drag me along with him, but he trusted me enough to stay here by myself. He left yesterday, but will call me every day pretty much to make sure I'm okay. I'll be okay though… I mean, nothing big or life changing is going to happen this summer anyways, things are just gonna be the same… Boring and un-exciting in general._

"Hey Annie, what are you writing?" Zana asked

"Oh… Well I was writing in my journal, just about… Life," Annie snorted

"Oh, you weren't writing a love letter to someone?" Tara laughed, Annie lightly punched her in the arm, snickering as Tara dramatically yelled in pain.

The bell rang and the three girls jumped out of their seats, running out of the Art classroom in anticipation.

"Have a good Summer break everyone," The teacher yelled

'_Tch, yeah, we will… I guess.' _Annie thought as she walked down the hallway, with Zana and Tara by her side. They separated to go to their lockers, but would meet back at Annie's car.

She opened up her locker, when suddenly someone appeared behind her. She turned around, it was Savannah, smirking at her.

"Hey bitch," She sneered "What are you and your cunt friends going to do this summer, be pathetic losers as always?"

"Hmm… Makes me wonder what you're going to do," Annie hissed "Maybe you'll get so drunk that you'll wander into the street and get hit by a car… Or maybe you'll choke on some guys' cock, wouldn't surprise me since you suck so many apparently."

"At least I get some Annie, aren't you the one who's still a virgin?" She laughed, leaning against the locker, the door blocking Annie's view from Savannah.

"Yeah, but at least I'm not a ruthless bitch," Annie laughed, as quickly as she could, she pulled her locker door back and slammed it onto Savannah as hard as she could. When she closed it, she noticed Savannah's nose was now bleeding, she kneed her in the stomach so she slammed into the lockers. She ran away as fast as she could, so she wouldn't get caught.

When she reached the parking lot, she was smiling, proud that she stood up for herself. She had never really stood up for herself before, because her dad had told her to ignore people who said rude things to her, and Annie was always afraid of the insults thrown her way. Maybe she was afraid that she would lash out, but she wasn't, her heart was beating fast, everything seemed to be more clear; it was adrenaline. It was the best feeling in the world.

Zana and Tara were leaning against her jeep as she walked over to them "Savannah won't be having the greatest start to the summer."

"Did you hit her?!" Tara yelled

"I slammed my locker door on her face and kneed her in the stomach, her nose was bleeding." Annie smirked "I made an improvement to her face though."

They laughed, throwing their bags in the car and getting in. Annie started the car and turned on the music, driving away from the school. She was still smiling, having more hope that maybe this summer wouldn't be so bad.

There were many people at Stotem falls, walking down to the small pools of water or jumping off the 10 foot high cliff. Annie grinned, watching them jump from the cliff, it wasn't the most highest cliff, but it was better than nothing.

"Let me guess…" Sam said, twirling her black hair with her finger "You want to jump?"

"Of course," Annie said looking at Sam "Hey, you look like a ghost Sam!"

Sam's skin was pale, a porcelain colour. Her hair was black and shoulder length, and her eyes were icey blue. She was taller than Annie, around 5'5" and usually wore dark colours. People would have thought she was a goth kid, but that was a common stereotype for people who liked to wear dark colours a lot and were quiet.

"I wanna jump as well!" Tara chirped "Zana what about you?"

"Fuck no!" Zana screeched "I will not! I'm afraid of heights, remember?"

"You know Zana, you're not going to overcome that fear unless you face it," Annie explained casually "Hey, it reminds of a quote that I read in a book... Fear doesn't shut you down, it wakes you up."

Zana frowned "Well that's because you're a thrill seeker and I'm not!"

"Come on, you should at least jump!" Sam said "it's only 10 feet high anyways, that's nothing!"

Without anymore questions, Annie grabbed Zana's hand and they made their way down to the cliff. The walk down had been tough due to the many rocks, but Annie didn't mind it. There were only a few people by the cliff, most of the people at the falls were swimming in the pools or laying on the dry rock faces.

Annie peered over the edge of the cliff, from afar it didn't look high, but when you look down from the top it looks higher. No wonder Zana was afraid of heights, it always looked higher than it really was. The highest cliff Annie had ever jumped off was a 90 ft one, she loved cliff jumping, along with her dad.

"It really isn't that bad Zana," Annie said "If tot makes you feel better, I jump off cliffs higher than this, around 90 ft."

Zana rolled her eyes "... And you've gone bungee jumping, zip lining, and a bunch of other crazy shit... What else is new?"

"So, you gonna go Zana?" Tara asked "We'll go first if it makes you feel better."

"Well, you're gonna pull that whole 'if we go first, then you have to go' bullshit," she groaned "I'll just go, why the fuck not?

Tara, Sam and Annie cheered, yelling as Zana made her way to the cliff edge, peering over it just to see how high it was.

"You guys so owe me for this," Zana yelled, and without looking, she ran and jumped off the cliff. There was a loud scream, but it was cut off by the sound of her body hitting the water.

Annie grinned "I'M GOING NEXT!"

Without hesitating, she bolted towards the cliff edge, throwing her whole body forward as she jumped off the cliff. For a moment, time seemed to slow as she plunged towards the water, the coldness of the water sent a shiver down her spine but as she emerged from the water, she smiled.

"Your turn, Sam and Tara!" She hollered, Sam went first, screaming as she jumped off the cliff. Tara hesitated for a moment before she jumped.

Annie had decided to go again, this time doing a flip off the cliff instead. The other girls, layed on the dry flat rocks that were along the falls. After a few more times of jumping off the cliff, Annie decided to go sit down.

"Not high enough for you?" Sam asked

"Yeah, not high enough…" Annie smirked "Something higher would definitely be better."

"What are we going to do after this?" Tara asked

Annie checked her phone, it was almost 5:00 PM "I was thinking that we could go back to my place and watch a movie. When do you guys want to go?"

"I'm fine with going now," Zana yawned "We're crashing at your place by the way."

"Sounds good to me," Annie said "Let's go."

They drove back to Annie's house, which was just outside the city, as they pulled into the driveway, she turned the music off. She froze, looking around, something did not feel right and she didn't know why she felt worried all of a sudden. The sky was grey, the sun disappearing behind the dark clouds.

"What the hell… I'm cold," Tara whined "What's up with this weather?"

Annie looked up at the sky, behind her backyard was a field and a forest beyond that. The clouds were darker there, she swore she saw flash of lightning "Let's go inside, I think it might start to rain."

It had started to rain as soon as they got inside, Annie slammed the door, locking it. Her dog, a

German shepard named Otis, came bounding down the steps. Her house was big, the entrance was more of a foyer, the first floor stretched out in front to where the exercise room was, just above it was the living room and kitchen, two sets of stairs on each side leading up to it. They made their way up to the living room, Annie dropping her purse on the desk and sitting down on one of the couches.

"Um, Annie?" Sam asked

"What?" She said, browsing through Instagram pictures on her iphone

"Did you leave the sliding door open?"

She froze, looking up. Usually the door was left open just a bit, but that was when her parents home, it was always closed when someone wasn't home. But it was open, the cold wind that blew through the room sent chilled her.

"I closed it this morning," She said, remembering that she did infact close it "I… Closed it and locked it."

"Maybe your sister was here? " Tara suggested "Does she have a key to the house?"

"Yes… But she's in Mexico right now with her boyfriend."

All four girls were silent, looking at each other and at the door. The house was quiet but Annie started to feel anxious, she got up and looked out the door. The rain only started to pour harder, the wind blowing harder than before. She closed the door, but Sam grabbed her arm.

"Annie, look…" She pointed out to where the forest was. The clouds were now forming a circle, the middle of it was clear though, revealing the blue sky.

"That… Doesn't look normal," Annie pointed out, gripping the handle of the door.

They jumped as the sound of thunder echoed throughout the sky, suddenly a flash of lightning struck the forest trees from the circle of clouds. But this lightning was not normal either, it was brighter, the brightest lightning Annie had ever seen and it was blue. Sam, Zana and Tara screamed as the house shook from the force of the lightning.

"THAT DEFINITELY IS NOT NORMAL!" Zana yelled, the house starting to shake even more from the storm.

Annie had lost her balance and fell to the floor, lying face first and pressing her face into the carpet. She closed her eyes, hoping that whatever was happening, would be over soon. She opened her eyes, and then it all stopped. Everything was silent again.

When she looked outside again, the clouds were now starting to separate the letting the sun shine through. She stood up, opening the door and walking outside. Sam followed her but Zana and Tara still stood inside, afraid to go out there.

"What are you doing Annie?" Sam asked. Hesitantly, she stepped outside and then followed Annie "I really don't have a good feeling about this…"

"I'm going to look over there, did you see that lightning? It wasn't normal, and it struck down into the forest there," Annie explained, she climbed over the fence and made her way into the field. "One of you guys stay in the house."

"I'm staying, I'm not going out there," Tara yelled, heading back into the house. Sam, Zana and Tara continued walking, heading into the forest. The dirt was cool and damp beneath Annie's bare feet, droplets of water fell on her from the trees. The path they walked was one that she had walked many times before, but it had been a long time since she came back here.

Suddenly the whole ground shook again, shaking the trees. The forest floor seemed to groan, but then everything went silent. The three girls stood still, Annie's heart beginning to beat faster as she slowly started to walk again. Sam and Zana hesitated but they followed her, walking as quietly as they could.

There was the sound of soft rustling of leaves and the distance snap of a twig, Annie stopped looking around. She thought she heard a voice, she headed to her left, where she heard it from.

She kept walking, but then she stepped on something… An arm. When she looked down, she gasped.

A young man laid unconscious on the ground, his hair was black, long and tied into a pony tail. In the corners of his eyes ran two creases down to his pale cheeks. He was handsome, no, beautiful. But it was not this that made Annie freeze.

She had seen this man before.

She had not seen him in real life, but in many of her dreams. She lost count of how many times she had seen him in them now, but he had always appeared into her dreams or visions. His face, she had remembered but his name she could not remember.

"Annie?" She whipped her head around to see Sam and Zana standing there, observing the scene "Who the hell is that?"

"I… Don't really know…" Annie said quietly, she touched his neck to feel for a pulse. It was there, he was still breathing "But he's still alive…"

"Then we should bring him inside the house," Sam said as calmly as she could "Where do you think he came from? Look at the way he's dressed… His clothes are strange."

"Guys…" Zana had gone strangely pale "I have a bad feeling about this… We should go back."

"Okay, help us lift him up," Annie said

Zana shook her head "No! We shouldn't bring him…"

"Why?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because… He seems dangerous." Zana said more quietly "Oh god… Did you hear that? I think we're not alone!"

"Zana, calm down," Annie snapped, rolling her eyes "Everything's fine. We just need-

"ANNIE! DUCK!"

She whirled around, but screamed as something hurtled towards her. She threw herself to the ground, the object making a loud 'thud' as it pierced into the tree. For a few seconds, she layed there, her eyes squeezed tight and her heart hammering in her chest. Annie dared to glance up, seeing a three bladed scythe pierced into the tree, it's blades were a blood red and for a moment she thought they were coated with slick blood.

"Zana? Sam?" She yelled, standing up she looked around but when she turned around, she faced someone else. His eyes were a magenta colour and his hair silver and slicked back, he donned a long black cloak with red clouds. "You're… Not Sam… Or Zana."

The man smirked "I don't know who the fuck they are. Who the hell are you by the way?"

"Who are you?" She asked, she knew that she should be afraid, but found herself suddenly irritated by this stranger.

"Hidan, of the Akatsuki…" His hand reached for the long handle of the scythe, she noticed that it was attached to a rope which was held in his other hand. "Which leaves me with a question… Where the fuck am I?"

"I don't know who the hell the Akatsuki is… And you're in Courtenay, B.C… Canada," She said

Hidan growled, taking the scythe, he held the blade under Annie's chin. She froze as the sharp blade pierced the pale skin of her throat "I'm telling you the truth."

"You're a lying bitch!" He roared "Tell me the truth or I'll sacrifice you."

"If you kill me, you won't get to know the truth!" Annie spat back, whoever this man was, he pissed her off "Now, you're on EARTH. In a country called Canada, the province you're in is called British Columbia and the city we're in is called the Comox Valley, or Courtenay… Whichever one you prefer."

He sneered, his magenta eyes slitted in a cold glare. He raised his scythe, about to bring down on Annie when someone yelled.

"Stop, Hidan."

Just behind him stood another man, wearing the same black cloak with red clouds. But this man was tall, over Six feet, his irises were green and the rest of his eyes were red, where they should have been white. He wore a black mask over his mouth, and a white cloth over the rest of his head.

Hidan growled "What the fuck do you want, Kakuzu?"

"Don't kill her," He said calmly "She's a hostage, after we get information from her we can kill her."

"Then what? Sell her?" Hidan laughed, Kakuzu seemed to consider this. His eyes drifted to Annie who know sat on the ground, her back against a tree. She shuddered as he stared at her, observing her.

"Maybe…" He said, he walked towards Annie. She stiffened as he kneeled down in front of her, his face just inches away from hers "What's your name?"

It took a few seconds for her speak "A… Annie Harker…"

"Annie Harker… Never heard of the name Harker," He said, she noticed Hidan rolling his eyes as he leaned against his scythe.

"I…" She stuttered "That's my real name. I swear, I'm not lying to you, I don't know who the hell you guys are… But please, just listen to me, if there's anything-"

"Shut up." His hand grabbed her throat and she gasped, attempting to pull away. "I have no time for this, Leader-sama wants us back, we'll bring the girl with us."

Annie opened her mouth to say something, but screamed as he raised his first, bringing it down to her head. Pain shook through her body, everything seemed to go out of focus and then the world around her went black.

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**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I've been trying to improve my writing, please R&R and tell me what you think so far!**


	2. Shinobi

**Hello again! New chapter up sooner than expected, I have many plans for this story so I'm trying to update as much as possible! I know it might take awhile to update sometimes, but I just need the motivation to get the chapters written up, lol.**

**Thank you for the reviews on the first chapter, much appreciated!**

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Chapter 2: Shinobi

_She awoke in the dark, lying on a cool, damp stone floor. A foul stench clung in the cool air, it was not pleasant smell. It was the smell of blood, the smell of death._

_Annie scrambled to her feet, her eyes adjusting to the dark. In the distance, a light shone through the building. She was in a cell, but the door was left open. Slowly, she walked towards the light at the end of the hall. She couldn't tell whether it lead outside or not, it was just a bright white light._

_When she walked through, her eyes were at first blinded by the intense light. But the light faded and she was now in a forest, the sky was blue and the heat of the summer burned down on her skin._

_Infront of him, he stood. Staring at her, he was beautiful, as he always was in her dreams. His long raven black hair was untied, reaching past his shoulders. His red eyes with the strange black patterns bore into her soul, the color of them stood out against his ivory skin. _

"_Annie," He said softly, his voice was neither rough or gentle. But when he said her name, it was smooth as silk._

"_Who are you? What's your name?" She asked, stepping towards him._

_He opened his mouth to speak, but no words were spoken. It was as if he was trying to say something, but she couldn't hear it._

_But the words had already escaped her own lips "Itachi…" She spoke softly and then gasped._

"_Itachi Uchiha."_

She almost fell as something hit her hard and woke her up. Annie groaned, wincing at the searing pain that was in her head.

"I'm… Still dreaming…." She tried to reassure herself. But someone laughed and she felt her stomach flip.

"Keep wishing that…" The voice spoke, it was a rough voice "Wake up!"

Whoever it was slapped her again across the face. She yelped, trying to move but realized that she was tied to a chair, her wrists and ankles bound. Her vision was blurry, but as soon her eyes adjusted, she gasped at the sight in front her.

There were about 10 strangers in her living room, they wore the same cloaks as the first two she encountered in the forest. The man who slapped her had blue skin and the features of a shark, when he stood he was tall, over six feet like Kakuzu. On either side of her, Tara, Zana and Sam sat, all tied to their chairs.

Annie glared at the shark man "You sure aren't a lovely sight to wake up to."

"Hmph," He growled "I'd say the same about you, girl."

"I have a name you know…" Annie rolled her eyes "It's…"

"Annie Harker." When she looked at who spoke she nearly gasped, it was the same man in her dream, Itachi. He stared at her, almost curiously, yet his eyes glowered in what seemed to be suspicion. Annie's heart started pounding as she stared at him. _'He really is beautiful,' _she thought, but looked away.

"How do you know my name?" She asked, she had barely remembered what happened before she was knocked out. But then she realized that she might have told them her name, whoever it was that knocked her out.

"Interesting question… I'd like to know how you know my name," He said, at these words, Annie froze, her stomach dropping.

"I…" She spoke, but the words wouldn't come "That's… Hard to explain…"

"That question can be answered later," A voice spoke, a man with orange hair and many piercings moved towards her. Up close, Annie noticed that he had strange silver eyes with many ring patterns surrounding his irises. "Where are we? Tell us the truth."

'_This must be their leader,' _Annie thought. But Sam spoke before she could.

"You're… I mean, we are in a town called Courtenay, in the province of B.C., or British Columbia," She said, trying to act as calm as possible. "In the country Canada…"

"Canada?" It was a woman who spoke this time, the only woman in the group of strangers. She had blue hair with a paper flower pinned into it and honey coloured eyes "I've never heard of such a country…"

"I still think it's bullshit, un," A man with long blond hair and blue eyes spoke, he wore his hair half up and half of it covered his right eye. "What country are we _really _in? The land of Fire? The Land of Iron?"

"… Or are we in the land of Earth, or the land of Lightning?" Hidan said, clearly looking impatient "Just tell us which one we are in, because I'm really fucking sick of your lies."

"We're not lying," Tara snapped "We're telling you the truth!"

"Tara calm down!" Annie hissed "Do not snap like that or yell, just keep calm and think clearly."

"Really Annie? You're telling me to keep calm when there's a bunch of psychopaths in the room?" Tara yelled "I mean look at that fucking guy over there, he looks like some fucking ying yang plant?"

The man or thing that Tara was talking about was standing in the corner, he had green hair, one half of his body was white and the other was white, with a huge venus fly traps around his body **"A ying yang plant?" **"Just ignore her…"

"Honestly, I have never heard of the Land of Fire, or the land of lightning and the other ones… And I have never seen a man that looks like a shark or plant man like him," Annie spoke "Here we have seven continents and 196 countries. We are in North America, which is one of the continents, and as Sam said, we are in the country Canada."

The orange haired man frowned "Really? So you're saying we're in a different world?"

"Pain, that may be it," Itachi spoke "Look at this house, and what we saw outside… None of this I have ever seen in this world."

"But… How?" Zana said "That's scientifically impossible isn't it?"

"You'd think it is, but it's said in science theory that there are many different galaxies… But different universes?" Annie asked "I don't know… If that's… Scientifically possible."

Sam shook her head "The universe is messed up. Whoever or whatever made this universe, was creative."

"Creative enough to make a different world?" Zana muttered

All of the cloaked strangers looked at them oddly, it was then Annie didn't realize who they were "Okay, well… Who are you guys? Where did you come from?"

"We are the Akatsuki," Pain said "We are an organization of what they called us 'S-classed criminals' from the Shinobi world."

"Okay," Annie nodded "So how did you end up here?"

All of them were quiet, but then Itachi spoke "I'm supposed to be dead… I was dead. Or so I thought, and then we ended up here, I don't know how exactly how we got here."

"I… Was dead as well," The shark man spoke, frowning "What the hell… So we died but then we ended up here?"

"It seems that way," Pain said quietly

"What?" Annie said, and they looked at her "There's no way… No one can die and then come back to life… Right?"

"It is possible," Pain said coolly "I assume it doesn't happen here?"

"No…" Annie said "But I've seen it in these dreams I have…"

"What?!" Hidan yelled "This bitch is crazy!"

"Shut up, Hidan," Kakuzu snapped "And listen to what she has to say."

Annie's heart pounded in her chest "This is going to sound crazy but… I saw you in my dream, Pain. I saw you die. But it wasn't really a dream… It was just like some sort of vision that came to my mind out of no where. This is not the first time it's happened by the way, it's been happening my whole life."

"So... You can see visions of the future?" Tara said "I mean from what you've told me, it seems that way... You just refuse to believe that it's what you can do."

"Yes Tara, that's exactly it," Annie spat "I've refused that it was that because I've always wanted to believe that I was normal. And I refuse to believe that this is happening now as well!"

Zana groaned, rolling her eyes "This is so fucked up."

"Leader-Sama, how can we trust or even believe these idiots?" The shark man asked "As far as we know, what Annie is saying could be bullshit. I think we should just kill them."

"I personally think killing me would be a bad choice, considering I might have some important things for you to know." Annie said "And how many times do I have to tell you that I'm telling you the truth? Also, can you untie me, this is uncomfortable."

"If she's lying then we will kill all four of them," Pain said blankly "But first untie them, Kisame."

Kisame growled, standing behind Annie with a kunai knife. Swiftly, he cut the rope around her wrists and then around her ankles, her wrists stinging from the rough rope. Without saying anything, she stood up and walked across the room, muttering a silent 'excuse me' to Kakuzu. Running her hands over the books on the shelf, she slipped the Atlas out from it, walking back over to the coffee table and slamming it down.

"This..." She said loudly "Is an Atlas, a book of the world map and all the different continents and countries. I know you'll probably not believe me yet, but take a look and you'll see for yourself."

Pain sat down on the couch in front of the coffee table, observing the book. The rest of the Akatsuki gathered around, talking quietly among themselves. He flipped open the book, skimming the pages he opened it to the world map. Everyone was silent, a few of the Akatsuki members looked at Annie, Sam, Zana and Tara, as if they were some animal that was supposed to be extinct.

"I... Assume that you've never seen this map before?" Sam asked nervously

The girl with the blue hair shook her head "We've never seen anything like this, this map... This house and what we saw outside. From all this, you might be right about us being in a different world."

"Are you fucking serious about this?" Hidan groaned "How is that even possible?"

"We don't know either! Before this shit happened, there was no such thing as 'alternate universe' or 'different worlds' or whatever bullshit we're dealing with here," Zana snapped "Are all of you still not convinced?"

"No... It's just that... We're rather confused," A red headed man with brown eyes spoke. "Like we said before, we were dead. And now we are in a different world, how do you explain that?"

"Maybe, this is really the afterlife!" A man chirped, for some odd reason, he wore an orange swirly mask. At what he said, everyone seemed to roll their eyes or groan.

"Well, I know for a fact that I'm alive," Annie spoke "Can I see a map of your world? I mean, if you have any..."

They stared at her silently, Itachi pulled out a scroll and handed it to her. Annie opened the scroll, laying it on the coffee table, Zana and Sam sat on either side of her observing it. Tara seemed uninterested or afraid to even go near the strangers, so she just sat on the couch.

"Fire country... Konoha... Wind country... Suna..." Sam muttered "So each country I guess has capital, like, a main village?"

"Yes," Pain said "Konohagakure is the Hidden Village of the Fire Country and Suna is the hidden village of the Wind country."

Annie traced a finger over the map, the weird symbols and names seemed to be somewhat familiar to her. Her finger idly traced a circle around where Konohagakure was written "You guys said that you are shinobi... What does that mean?"

"You don't what a shinobi is?" Kisame asked, surprised.

"Shinobis are ninjas," Pain explained "We have the ability to manipulate chakra to create different techniques."

The four girls were silent, looking at eachother before Annie spoke "Well... That's interesting... Can you show us?"

"You want us to prove it to you?" Kisame snorted "Guess you gotta see it to believe it..."

Annie rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath and Zana, Sam and Tara just groaned. This was supposed to be their summer vacation, not a time to babysit some strange ninjas from a completely different world. Annie almost laughed at the thought, she couldn't imagine what it would be like for them to try to fit into a completely different society.

"How about I show you my art, un?" The man with the long blond hair suggested

The red headed man beside him looked irritated at the idea "It isn't even art."

"Yes it is!"

"Can you two shut up please?" Annie begged "And you... Blond guy that looks like a girl, yes you can show us, but outside."

"I don't look like a girl, un!" He snapped, but was only shoved towards the sliding door by the red headed man.

Outside, the night sky was sprinkled with stars, the full moon casting a glow on the earth below. Annie, Zana, Sam and Tara walked awkwardly among the Akatsuki as they headed past her pool towards the large area of grass behind it.

"Well I'm ready for the magic show to begin," Zana said sarcastically "I wonder if he's going to pull a bunny out of a hat..."

"Or maybe he'll make a huge fire, walk into and emerge out of it unburnt with three dragons like Daenerys Targaryen," Tara suggested.

"Even I have to admit... That would be cool," Annie said quietly, as she noticed that Akatsuki were giving them strange looks "Or if he turned into a Mockingjay like Katniss did in Catching Fire."

"Can we please stop with the Game of Thrones and Hunger Games references?" Zana yelled "We have a pretty serious situation here and you guys are trying to make a joke of it!"

Sam shushed them "I think we should be quiet now..."

"Deidara," The red headed man said "Don't do anything stupid."

Deidara smirked "Don't worry, I'm not going blow anything up Sasori-sama."

"Don't set bombs over the whole city." Pain said.

"Uh... That was sarcastic, right?" Zana asked, looking at Pain oddly

"No, it wasn't."

Deidara reached into his cloak, pulling out what looked to be a ball of clay. When he opened his right hand, a mouth opened, sticking it's tongue out as if licking it's lips. Annie gasped at the sight, and Zana and Sam shrieked, Tara only stood still frozen in shock. This had almost provided Annie enough proof that these people really were who they said they were. Not just ninjas though, they were freaks. She had thought that Kisame and other Black and white man were freaks, but clearly she didn't know them well enough yet.

He only smirked, throwing the small ball of clay into the mouth of his right hand. The mouth chewed it for a few seconds and then spat it out, what was once a lump of clay was now a small bird. Deidara raised the two fingers of his right hand and yelled "Katsu!"

They had no moment to ask what he was doing before there was an explosion, the small bird had exploded, Zana, Tara and Sam jumped back yelling. But Annie stood there, looking in curiosity. When the smoke from the bomb cleared, Annie froze, staring at the sight before her.

The small bird had now transformed into an even bigger one, big enough to climb onto. It's wings were tucked in and it's head lowered, Annie walked towards it, admiring the smooth white clay of the figurine. Suddenly, it flapped it's wings and Annie yelped, jumping back as the thing she thought was just a clay figurine moved.

"How the hell can it move?!" Zana gawked "This is impressive..."

"It's ninjutsu," Pain explained "All Ninjutsu techniques are unique, and we each have our own depending on our nature release."

"Pretty cool, un?" Deidara grinned, stroking the bird's wing.

"Deidara, go scan the city from above, see if you find anything of interest," Pain said

The artist nodded and jumped onto the back of the bird, with a cool gust of wind it took off from the ground. Annie stared in awe as he rised higher up to the stars and flew away, wondering where he would go. She remembered when she was little watching Aladdin, dreaming that she would be able fly like the characters did on the magic carpet. Annie had always day dreamed of these things, of being a mermaid or being one of the strong heroines from the popular young adult novels, but she never thought something like that could be real.

Until now, these were not the things she had day dreamed about. They were beyond that, beyond anything she could have imagined. Yet, there was more to learn, but she had already felt that her whole world had flipped upside down in a matter of seconds.

"You have never seen this before?"

It took a moment to realize that Pain was speaking to her, shaking her head, she snapped out of her daze "None of us have... Stuff like this... It only exists in movies, in fantasy novels. People like me... Well, we're considered to be... Normal human beings."

"Tch, you haven't seen anything yet," Kisame said "That was just a little tiny bit of what we can do."

Annie came to the realization that if these people went out in the city, that they would not only scare the hell out of people, but would cause some serious damage as well. She wasn't aware of what exactly what these people could do, but from the looks of it, they were a force to no be reckoned with.

"You can't go out in the city," Annie blurted out "If... People see you, and what you can do then they will freak out... If you kill too many people or do something crazy, they will send the military after you."

"... And if you tell them that you're from a different world, they will try to put you into a mental institute," Sam added.

"So what do you suggest we do then?" Kakuzu asked, in what seemed to be in a mocking tone "Stay in hiding?"

"Yes that is what I'm suggesting. Because you're 'S-class criminals' so I assume that's a very dangerous ranking..." Annie yelled, she ran her hands through her hair, then started pacing around. She was anxious, she never paced around unless she was anxious "No one will believe that there's another world out there, that you come from that world... Unless we have proof. Which we don't... I've been having these dreams and they turn out to be visions of the future... If I told my doctor that, he would probably send me to a mental hospital!"

They all stared at her now, and Annie couldn't help but be angry, uset, and most of all confused "This isn't your world anymore guys! You live in a world where people believe that God created the earth within seven days, and others believe that we human beings evolved from apes. "

"Annie," Zana said "I think you need to calm down..."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? How am I supposed to be calm right now, I have no idea why the hell this is happening... My therapist couldn't figure out what was going on with me... Fuck, she was probably going to send me to a mental institute... But here's the answer to my problems, I can see the future. That's just... Great!"

Sam turned to the Akatsuki, looking at Pain "I'm sorry, but she's having a moment... And we're all a little stressed right now. It's supposed to be Summer vacation for us and this is a little overwhelming. Could... You go inside and let us speak in private, like for a few minutes?"

"Meet us back inside when you're done." Pain said flatly, him and the rest of the Akatsuki went back inside the house, of course giving Sam, Annie, Zana and Tara weird looks as well.

"Annie!" Sam took Annie's hand "Calm down, okay? Just breathe... Nice deep breathes... Think straight."

Annie stopped pacing back and forth, she closed her eyes and breathed, taking in the warm summer air. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak out..."

"That's okay, we're all a little freaked out right now." Zana explained "But at least we get some time to think things through..."

"Tch, yeah at least..." Tara muttered. She was strangely quiet and Annie suspected that might be because she was afraid. But when she looked at her, it wasn't fear that was in her expression, rather one of annoyance or confusion.

"Well..." Sam said quietly "Don't worry too much about it Annie, do whatever feels right..."

"Just... Promise me whatever happens tonight or in the future, no matter what happens... You'll always have my back." Annie spoke softly "Just promise me that."

"Of course, dude," Zana laughed, nudging Zana "Why wouldn't we?"

Tara only nodded, seeming to have no interest in their conversation. Annie decided not to question her and made her way back into the house instead. The were in the living room, some of them sitting on the couches, Annie took a seat, Zana and Sam sitting on either side of her.

"You said that we should stay in hiding..." Pain explained "But where would we stay?"

_'Here... In my house...' _Annie knew that would be the answer but refused to accept that it would be the solution this situation "I... Am not sure."

"Why not here?" The blue haired woman ask, her eyes narrowed slightly "You already know about who we are... It would make more sense for us to stay here."

"I agree, Konan," Kisame said, his gaze on Annie now "Besides, don't you think she will benefit our organization? She has visions of the future after all."

"That is true," Pain said "We'll stay here then."

Annie was silent for a moment "Alright then... But I have some conditions or rules if you're going to stay in my house."

"Care to explain them?" Sasori asked

"Well the first one... Do not use your weapons inside the house." She spoke, eyeing Kisame's giant sword that was on his back "2. do not go into my room 3. do not use ANY ninjutsu inside or outside the house 4. Do not go into the alcohol cabinet 5. Do not go into my dad's office... I think that's it. If I've forgotten any, I'll tell you them in the morning."

To her surprise, they all nodded in understand though Hidan did roll his eyes. It was late, about 12:23 AM now and Annie decided that she was too exhausted to stay up and deal with Shinobi criminals, who she just learned all the names of. There were 3 guest bedrooms, one had four beds and the other two had only two beds. Annie appointed them to the rooms, leaving them to argue over who would stay in what room. In the end, Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara and Tobi took the room with the four beds and Itachi, Kisame, Pain and Konan took the other two bedrooms. Apparently, Sasori didn't sleep so he didn't need a bed and Zetsu decided to sleep on the couch in the living room.

It was 1:00 AM when Annie went into her room and closed the door, sighing with exhaustion. Zana, Sam and Tara were too tired or overwhelmed to speak so they all changed into their pajamas and crawled into bed. Sam and Annie slept in her king sized bed, while Zana and Tara slept on mattresses on the floor.

All of them fell fast asleep, except for Annie who lied awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. All her plans for a fun summer had gone down the drain, the hope summer break would be relaxing and fun was replaced with a feeling of fear and dread.

_'What the hell have I gotten myself into...'_

* * *

**Annnd bam! End of chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I plan on making the chapters a bit long (4,000 words ish) because I don't like writing short chapters. Anyways, please read and review, tell me what you thought of the chapter! What do you guys think will happen next? :)**


	3. Compromise

**Ah look a new chapter again! I'm gonna try to update weekly, but let's see how that goes lol… I'm pretty busy but I'll try my best at weekly updates!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Compromise

_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_

Annie groaned as the alarm on her phone seemed to blare through the room, rolling over, she opened her eyes. The morning sun cast rays into her bedroom, filling the room with a comforting glow and warmth that reminded her of the summers she spent at the family cabin in Tofino.

On the floor, Zana growled "Turn the fucking alarm off!"

With a groan, Annie reached over and turned the alarm off. There was no reason for her to wake up early that morning, she simply forgot to turn off her alarms from the previous day. Rolling back on her side, she pulled the blankets back over her and tried to go back to sleep.

It was only a few minutes later, when the door to her bedroom door slammed open. Loud Footsteps echoed through the room, whoever it was made their way into her room, stopping near her bed.

"Leader-Sama says to come downstairs, now." The voice sounded familiar, then the memories from last night came back and Annie cursed inwardly. Hesitantly she opened her eyes, staring up at Kisame who just stood there.

"Tell 'Leader-Sama' that I want to sleep," She snapped, throwing the covers over her head and closing her eyes.

Kisame grunted, throwing the blankets back, Sam, who slept beside her yelped at the sudden movement. He bent down, grabbing Annie by her waist and pulling her out of the bed. "No exceptions."

"Hey, what the hell?!" Annie shrieked as Kisame simply threw her onto his shoulder as if she was a sack of potatoes. "I can walk by myself you know!"

"What the fuck are you doing fish man?" Zana asked, now standing on top of the mattress she slept on, along with Tara who still looked half asleep "It's 7:00 AM in the morning!"

"Yes, and it's time for you to get your asses out of bed and come downstairs," Kisame explained, listening to Annie's complaints, he put her back on the ground. She hastily but her hair up in a messy bun, smoothing out her pajamas from Forever 21 which said "Nobody understands me like coffee does" on the shirt, the PJ shorts were printed with mugs of coffee.

"Right now? Can't we at least get changed?" Sam asked

Kisame rolled his eyes "You can get changed later."

Annoyed at Kisame, Annie stomped past him out of the room. She walked downstairs, a nice hot cup of coffee on her mind. When she walked in the dining room she stopped, all the Akatsuki minus Kisame sat around the table, and their eyes were now fixed on her.

"Um… Hi… Good morning," She grumbled, fumbling with the hem of her pajama shirt. "Thanks for the wakeup call by the way, I was hoping to sleep in."

"There are more important matters to discuss than sleep," Pain said cooly, Annie couldn't help but notice how emotionless he seemed to be. The expression he wore was like a blank canvas, hard to read. She wondered if he did this only around the Akatsuki, or if he just refused to express his emotions in general.

Annie shook her head, trying not think too much of what these criminals were like "Well… These important matters can be discussed in a bit. I'm going to get coffee, and don't even try to stop me from doing that."

It took a few minutes for the coffee to brew, so while it did, she ate some cereal while sitting at the island and checked her phone. Nothing of interest had seemed to happen in the internet world, only a few Facebook notifications, some emails, and some new Youtube videos from people she was subscribed to.

The door to the kitchen opened and slammed, Annie didn't bother to see who it was, it was probably Zana or Tara coming to get coffee as well. She froze though, as Itachi walked in, filling his glass with water at the kitchen counter.

"… _I'd like to know how you know my name." _ The words echoed so loudly through her mind that Annie suddenly had a hard time concentrating on one thing. She glanced at Itachi, who now leaned against the kitchen counter, drinking his water. She realized that he was staring at her and Annie tried to look away.

There was an awkward silence as Itachi still stood there and Annie tried to distract herself by looking through her phone but It slipped out of her hand and dropped on the floor.

"Shit," Annie muttered, she was just about to grab it but Itachi bent down and grabbed it off the floor, he handed it to her, their eyes making contact for a moment.

"Thank you…" She said quietly and he still stood there, looking at her.

"What is your natural hair colour?" He asked, Annie frowned. Out of all the questions he could ask, he asked that one? And was it that obvious that she died her hair? People had told her that they her natural hair colour was brown, but maybe the colour was starting to fade.

"It's red," Annie said, she didn't know whether she felt completely uncomfortable or tense when he stood close to her. For some reason, when she stared at him her heart started beating and she wanted to mentally slap herself for acting so awkward around him.

He blinked, turning away "I see…"

She walked back into the dining room, carrying her big red 'Keep calm and carry on' mug with coffee in it. Zana went into the kitchen to get coffee as Annie sat down beside Sam at the dining room table, Itachi was sitting across from her and tried to avoid his eye contact. But no matter how much she avoided it, she could feel him stare at her from time to time.

"What are those things that are on the road, they have lights and make weird honking noises, un," Deidara asked, he was explaining what he had saw last night in the city. Annie only registered a bit of his story, not really interested in what he had to say.

"They're called cars," Sam explained "And there's different types of cars, there are vans, sports cars, trucks, and Jeeps."

"Okay… And what is that she has in her hand?" Tobi asked pointing at Annie.

"That's a cup of coffee," Tara said, rolling her eyes.

"He means the other thing she has in her hand, dumbass," Hidan said, looking at her as if she was stupid.

Annie rolled her eyes "It's a cellphone, it's what we use to communicate, so we can call people on it or text them… Texting means that we send messages but through our phones."

"So you don't need to use a bird to send a message, you just do it with that?" Konan asked "That's… Interesting."

"I guess our world is more advanced in technology than yours," Annie spoke "Anyways, I don't think I was woken up early to talk about cars and cell phones. What's going on?"

"We haven't completely settled things yet," Pain explained, looking at Annie in what seemed to be suspicion "There are things I'd like to discuss, the first thing being how we got here in your world… Do you have any idea of how we got here?"

Annie frowned "Look, I have no idea. My visions are sometimes… Not clear? I don't know, I don't think I can really control them. There was this weird storm last night… The clouds like cleared up in the middle of the sky like some kind of circle, and then this huge, bright flash of lightning. We came out to the forest to see what it was, but then we found Itachi lying unconscious on the ground… My vision though… I do remember seeing something on the ground, it was like these strange symbols, like Japanese writing or something…"

"If that was there, that means it was fuinjutsu," Itachi said "But fuinjutsu is a sealing techinique… So maybe it's a different kind of jutsu."

"A jutsu that lets you travel to a different dimension?" Kisame asked "That's something probably only the sage of the six paths could do. I have never heard of anyone being able to perform a jutsu that powerful."

"… And I did not understand a single thing they said there," Tara grumbled

"My main point is, we need to find a way back to our world," Pain said "With your power Annie, you could help us."

Annie froze, setting her coffee mug down on the table "What makes you think that I will help you?"

"Do you value your life?" He asked sharply

"Yes, I do," Annie snapped "I just never asked to be part of your plans… I barely even know you, hell, I don't even trust you."

"In all honesty, I don't trust you either."

She shook her head "Then why the hell do you want me to help you if you don't trust me?"

"We're not saying that you'll help us right away," Konan interjected "It could take us awhile to figure out how to get back to our world, in the mean time you would have to help us figure out a way to get back. If you did not choose to help us, we would have to kill you. If you did choose to help us, we protect you and make sure that any other Shinobi will not get information from you."

"You'd kill me because I would know who you are and what you do," Annie explained "So why not kill me after I helped you get back to your world? I wouldn't be of any use after I helped you, there's nothing that special about me…"

"A power like yours, we have never seen before…" Pain explained "Something that is unique, not even Shinobi possess a power like yours. Do you know how many people would want you if they knew you had this power?"

'_Many people…' _Annie thought _'I could be a weapon for war, somebody's tool for destruction…' _Growing up, Annie never wanted to be the girl who stood by and let the men fight the battles. Even her father had taught her how to fight and how to hunt, she thought that she would always fight her own battles, but this was a different kind of battle.

"There are many people who would use you as a tool. Eventually, others would find out about you and they would try to use you as well. There are people who would use you as a tool for destruction, to start wars."

"Isn't that what you want me to do for you? To be your tool?"

"No, because our goal is different, we want world peace," Pain explained slowly "Not to cause any wars, not to tear the world down."

Annie had almost forgotten that he mentioned that the night before, but she must have forgotten that he said it. What was Pain's idea of achieving world peace? These people were a group of criminals, if they wanted world peace, they must have had a pretty twisted idea of achieving it.

"So you want me to help you with that?" Annie said softly "To achieve world peace?"

He nodded, as well as Konan. Annie thought about all the strange dreams she was having up until now, but none of them determined whether or not if she agreed to help the Akatsuki. Just yesterday, she was a normal highschool girl, the outcast at school, but today she was a girl with visions of the future, a girl who could possibly change the world.

"If I agree to help you," Annie said "You must not kill or harm my friends."

"No harm will come to them," Pain said

Annie looked at Zana and Sam who seemed to agree, but Tara looked unsure. "Can we have some time to talk about this?"

"Yes." Pain simply said.

"Let's go outside," Annie whispered to Sam, she stood up heading out of the kitchen to the living room. Zana, Sam, and Tara followed her as she opened the sliding door and walked outside, Otis, who was sleeping in his bed in the living room, walked outside with them. For a moment she stood there, basking in the cool morning summer air.

"Annie… What are we going to do?" Zana asked "We can't trust these guys, they're dangerous people. Pain could be lying about all of this!"

"I know," Annie said softly "Yet at the same time, I'm so unsure… I feel like he is telling the truth, yet he is hiding something. I just… Don't know what to do…"

Sam bit her lip, running a hand through her long dark hair "I think we need time to make a decision… Do you think they will at least allow us that?"

"I'm not so sure," Zana said "They might not… They seem to be very keen on getting back to their world. In this case, they might not allow us the time to make the decision."

"I agree," Annie nodded "They might not."

After being quiet for awhile, Tara finally spoke "Well in this case… I don't want any part of it, so you can count me out."

"What?! Are you serious? So you're just going to leave? They might kill you if you do that!" Zana snapped

"I don't care what they do!" Tara hissed "You guys almost act like it's a good thing. It's not, it's fucking insane. I don't want any part of this bullshit, you can have the time of your lives with them if you want, but I'm leaving."

"Tara, we're trying to compromise here," Annie explained "At least listen to what I have to say…"

"-Oh about how you're so special with your future visions and all that crap? Forget it Annie, I'm leaving."

Annie clenched her jaw "Fine." She spat "But don't come running to me if you get your ass in trouble Tara."

Tara did not respond, only turned around and walked back inside the house. The three girls were silent for a moment, confused about what happened.

"She seemed pretty pissed off at you, Annie," Sam pointed out "Has something been going on?"

"We haven't been getting along a lot recently," Annie confessed. It was true, her and Tara weren't always on the best of terms lately. Mostly over Tara's boyfriend Billy and many other things. Tara and Annie were both different people with different beliefs and views on life, which meant that they didn't agree about everything. But Tara was always too hot tempered and seemed to be somewhat jealous of Annie. She never understood why. "Whatever, it's her choice to leave…"

"She we ask uh, ask Pain if we can have more time to make a final decision?" Zana asked "Also, I want more coffee, so uh… If we reach a final decision on this soon, that would be great."

"I personally think we need more time to decide," Sam agreed "I'm not sure whether we can agree to help them right now. We've known these guys for like, less than 24 hours."

Annie rubbed her eyes, her head starting to pound "I guess it's decided then… Maybe we should ask."

All agreeing, they went back inside. As soon as she sat down at the table, Annie had a sip of her coffee, which was now luke warm. Everyone was silent before Pain spoke.

"Have you all made a decision?" He asked

"You'll have to give us more time to decide," Annie said "It's too soon for us to come to a final decision, we need more time."

"Okay." Pain said, even though Annie thought she saw a somewhat disapproving look on his face.

"Look, we barely know you guys, maybe once we know you a bit better, we can then make a final decision," Sam suggested

Hidan snorted "Oh so we need time to bond and become friends, like one big happy fucking family."

"Yes, and then we can have movie nights together and have family dinners together," Zana said sarcastically "Sounds fantastic!"

Pain ignored Zana and Hidan's sarcastic jokes "Where did Tara go?"

"She didn't want anything to do with you guys," Annie explained, wondering if Tara would text her later or at least message her on Facebook "She left, I don't think she's coming back."

Pain simply nodded, leaning his elbows on and folding his hands. There was an odd silence throughout the room, only a few of the Akatsuki talked amongst themselves quietly, taking no more interest in Annie, Zana and Sam. Her coffee was now cold, but she didn't care at the moment, her stomach growled with hunger as well, apparently the cereal she had eaten had not been filling.

"Uh… Do you guys want breakfast?" Annie asked, even though the Akatsuki were a group of criminals, she thought that she might as well treat them like guests. Many of them either nodded or said yes to her question.

"Alright, Sam and Zana, come and help me make breakfast."

* * *

"There you are, I've been looking for you,"

Annie closed her book, marking the page first where she had left off. Sighing, she sat up straight, sipping her iced coffee. "Something wrong, Sam?"

"Nah, I just wanted to see how you're doing," She said, sitting on the lawn chair beside her. Otis layed down in the grass beside her, she leaned over and scratched his ear.

"Umm… Well despite the whole this whole 'stuff'… You know, being able to see the future and all that… Besides that, I guess everything is okay."

"So this means that you don't have that disease or whatever it was?"

"Frontotemporal Dementia… Also known as FTD," The phrase that had often been told to Annie of recent, gave her chills.

Sam almost hesitated to speak after she said it, but tried to speak more gently "What are you going to tell your dad, Annie? I think he'll be happy that you're okay."

"I'm not sure…"

It had only been a few months ago that Annie seemed to be living in a world of what she thought was chaotic hell. Most weeks she would have to go to a therapist, and then to go see a doctor to get MRI scans. The memories seemed to be distant at first, but when she started thinking about them again, they seemed fresh…

_For months it had happened, for years at least. She was having strange visions, strange dreams that did not make senses to her. A red moon with a strange pattern on that looked like an eye, a white haired man who had strange red marks on his face and wore blue armour. But there was always the one man who would call out to her, the man with the long black hair and strange red eyes. _

"_Annie?" He would call her name, but she did not answer, she did not know his name._

_She layed on ice, the cold seeping in to her bones and making her shiver "What do you want from me?"_

"_What's going to happen?"_

"_Everything is going to change."_

_She had woken up gasping for air as if she had almost drowned. For many years, the visions or dreams came and went, but when she got older, they came more often, more strange and mysterious._

_After that dream, she had told her Mom and Dad everything. They listened to her but she could tell from the looks on their faces that something was wrong. No teenage girls should have dreams like these or strange visions at random times of the day and no matter what, she couldn't stop them. She remembered sitting on the couch, while her Mom called a therapist, her dad sat on the couch beside her, not looking at her. Maybe he couldn't look at her, maybe they were ashamed or scared of what she was._

_From that moment one, she had started going to therapy. Her therapist, Dr. Fukui was nice, though Annie had strange suspicions about her. Her therapy sessions had started with her telling Dr. Fukui about the visions and dreams and how they had started to come more often. One day after therapy, she asked for Annie's parents to come into her office to talk._

"_Mr. and Mrs. Harker, have you ever heard of the disease called 'Frontotemporal dementia'?" Dr. Fukui had asked, looking at her notes and then at Annie._

"_Of course I have," Annie's mom, Marianne said "I'm a doctor, and I did have a patient with this disease."_

"_I see," Dr. Fukui said quietly "Annie here has been showing some symptons of FTD, judging from what she has been telling me in our sessions."_

_Annie's mother had frozen at that moment, she glanced at her and then at Dr. Fukui, her face pale "But how can we be so sure?"_

"_I'm not. What I suggest though is that you take Annie to a doctor to get an MRI, to see whether her brain is showing cell degeneration. That is what I suggest you do, but other than that, what Annie has told me, I have never heard of happening in other people."_

_After that, they had left and drove home in silence. Annie sat in the back of the truck, while her Dad drove in silence, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. Her Mother was trying to hold back her tears, but the pain of what Annie was going through was too much to bear. So she cried and Annie couldn't say anything, her Father held her hand as they drove home and all Annie could do was stare out the window of the truck, pretending that everything would be okay._

_It was the same the next week, but this time, she sat in the passenger seat as her Dad drove to the hospital in Campbell River. He wouldn't talk to her for some reason, he looked angry and Annie couldn't understand why at first. Maybe he was mad at God, if there was one, or the universe it's self for letting this happen to his daughter, his one and only child. Annie didn't know how she felt herself, her emotions were a mix of confusion, anger and sadness._

_The MRI was the worst, Annie had to lie absolutely still. It felt like an eternity, having to lie inside that machine while they took scans of your brain, to whether it was okay or not. For the first time, she had questioned if she was really okay, and not for the first time, she knew she wasn't okay._

_It had turned out that her brain had showed no signs of cell degeneration, which meant that she was okay, physically. Yet the news had not seemed to change her dad's mood, who had looked worn out and pensive. So they made their way back home, the car silent again as they drove past the beach._

_She had not felt good, and was just able to hold back her tears "Dad, can we stop for a minute? I just need some fresh air."_

"_Are you feeling okay?" He asked _

"_Y-yeah I'm fine, I just need to step outside for a bit," She tried to hide her face so he wouldn't see that she was upset, his eyes which were on her had turned back to the road as he turned into the parking lot. As soon as he cut the engine she got out of the truck, walking towards the beach._

_Annie was walking so quickly, that she had stumbled in the sand and fell. She didn't bother to get back up, only sat there in the sand and sobbed._

_There were so many thoughts in her head and one came to her the most clearly; 'Freak'. She was a freak, she was so sure that she was, no one could understand what was wrong with her, so that's what she most likely was; a freak._

"_Sweet heart?" Her Father called out of her "Are you alright?"_

'_No I'm not, I'm not alright,' she thought, trying to hold back her sobs. But her Dad sat by her, putting his arms around her._

"_Shh…" He hushed, stroking her hair "It's going to be fine Annie."_

"_You really think that?" Annie said "Dad, I'm a freak, all those bullies' back in school, what they said about me is true… I'm weird, I'm messed up."_

_He frowned "Don't you dare say that. They don't know you…"_

"_Aren't you ashamed of me though?" She wailed "You and Mom don't talk to me about this! You don't tell me how you feel, but I have to hear her cry and I don't know why."_

"_Why would we be ashamed? Annie, we're worried for you, the thought of losing you has scared us to death, losing you, our daughter. Could you imagine how we feel?" He shook his head, looking out towards the ocean "You know why I'm scared? Because I love you, I love you so much, and losing someone you love, especially a child is a parent's worst nightmare. I can't let anything happen to you, you know what?"_

"_Dad…" Through the tears, Annie smiled slightly "I'm sorry, I just never understood… But now I think I know."_

_He looked at her, brushing her hair back from her face "When you're a parent, you'll understand."_

"_Me, a parent? I don't know about that Dad, and who would want to marry me?"_

"_You really don't know do you?" He laughed, but then frowned "Princess, you really are too hard on yourself sometimes you know that?"_

_Annie sighed "Yeah, I know and I try not to be…"_

"_The reason those people at school bully you…" He explained "Is because they're jealous… You are very beautiful Annie, you might not know that but they know and so do I. I've seen the way boys look at you, like you're not something of this earth. I don't know how you aren't able to notice this but I see it everytime. And those girls, like Savannah, are jealous because you have something they don't."_

"_And what's that?" Annie asked._

"_Well there are many things," He explained smiling "You're beautiful, smart, compassionate and caring. You've never held back on speaking your mind. Yes, that's gotten you in quite a bit of trouble before, but that is not an ability that most people have. And you, my daughter,r are determined and stubborn, more stubborn than me. But you know what the most beautiful thing about you is?"_

_She didn't realize that she was crying again, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve "What?"_

"_You're a fighter, you are brave. You have been through so much crap, but you've just pushed through it, you've never backed down from anyone who would try to hurt you. You're beautiful both inside and out and I'm not saying this just because I'm your father, but because it's true. I want you to remember this from now and accept that you're different but amazing, because I sure as hell think you are."_

"_Jeez, Dad," Annie sniffed, rubbing her eyes "You sure know how to make me feel better."_

"_That's one of my many duties as a father." He smiled, kissing her on the forehead._

'_Brave, beautiful, determined…' _Annie thought, how was she all those things? She believed she wasn't anything extroadinary, until now anyways.

"I think he's going to freak out when he comes home, my dad, I mean," Annie said, the thought of her Dad's reaction making her stomach flip. Robert Harker was a cautionary man, and sometimes, paranoid Annie believed. He had made it his job to make sure that Annie was safe at all times and would always stay out of trouble. He was over protective, Annie had told him that all the time but he always denied it.

Sam laughed nervously "He's not just going to freak out, he's going to rage."

Annie's phone started ringing she looked at the screen, frowning. How ironic, just when she was thinking about her boring therapy sessions, her therapist called. "It's Dr. Fukui calling, my therapist."

"Oh," Sam muttered, she went silent, as if expect Annie to answer her phone.

"Hello?" Annie said, starting to feel nervous

"Hello Ms. Harker, how are you doing?" Dr. Fukui had a distinct accent and always called Annie by 'Ms. Harker' as if she was a mature adult. She liked it because it was like she was not treating her like she was a stuck up teenager, which a lot of adults seemed to treat her as.

"Um… I'm doing good, how about you?"

"I am fine," She said "How has your Summer been, have any exciting plans?"

She talked to her as if she was friend, not just her therapist that's another thing Annie liked about her "Me and my dad plan to go to Tofino sometime near the end of July. Other than that, no other big plans."

"Ah, that sounds lovely. Say hi to him the next time you talk to him. Anyway, I was calling to check up on you. I wanted to know how you… Are feeling and if you need to, you can come in again for another session.

Annie took a deep breath, she had not thoroughly enjoyed the therapy sessions, they did little to help her. All these years, she was seeing visions of the future yet she didn't know that she was. Maybe because her and the rest of the world were taught that no such thing was possible, no one had such powers.

"Yes, I am feeling fine." She said cheerfully.

"That's good to hear," Dr. Fukui said, yet there was a hint of doubt in her voice "So when do you want to see me next?"

"Actually…" Annie stated, biting her lip "I won't need to see you anytime soon. The visions and weird dreams have stopped coming. I'd like to thank you though, Dr. Fukui but I won't need help anymore, I'll call you if I do need it though."

* * *

**I'm sorry guys if this chapter was kind of lame. I'm not wanting to rush too much into this story because I want it to focus a bit more on the O.C.S at first so that you can get an idea of what their like. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter, please R&R! Reviews motivate me to write more!**


	4. Decision

**Oh hey! I'm really sorry for the late update, I was in Edmonton last week for an Anime convention. I also didn't have a lot of motivation to write when I came back, since I do work full time as well. I'm gonna TRY to update weekly though guys!**

**Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter, it's a bit different from the other ones in my opinion, haha.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Decision

"You bastard… How could you… You ate all the cookies!"

Kisame looked at Zana, who stood at the door of the kitchen holding a baby blue kitchen knife "First off, I didn't eat all of them… Second, I would appreciate if you put that knife down. Are you going to try to stab me over some cookies?"

"No, I want to stab you because I don't trust you," Zana explained "Also because I never got a cookie… And you look like a shark… And you have killed… How many people?"

"I lost count a while ago," He confessed, opening his hand, in it was a cookie "Maybe even a long time ago."

Zana opened her mouth to say something, but Sam walked into the room "What's going on?"

"Your 'BFF' here was bitching about not getting any cookies," Kisame explained "Perhaps you should have made more."

"Even if we made more, you would have eaten all of them," Sam rolled her eyes "And a guy your size would have no doubt eaten them all… Anyways, have you seen Annie?"

Kisame shook his head and Zana shrugged "She went out a while ago to take Otis for a walk… Probably about 2 hours ago actually."

"She should be back by now, she isn't usually out that long," Sam said

"She probably just took a different route or something. I'd relax if I were you."

"While you two worry about your 'BFF'," Kisame sighed "I have somewhere else to be."

He made his way out of the kitchen, but before leaving he stopped to give Zana the last cookie. She accepted it awkwardly, both her and and Sam not speaking as Kisame left.

Sam shot her a look "Does he even know what 'BFF' means?"

"We've… Been educating them on internet slang." Zana giggled.

* * *

A warm summer breeze whispered through the forest, blowing Annie's hair into her eyes. Sighing, she stuck the leash in her mouth while she tied her hair up. The clouds were coming in, the sky turning a dull gray signaling that it would rain soon. Looking up at the sky, she started walking faster.

"Come on Otis," She said, lightly tugging on the leash. The German Shepard obeyed, padding on trail beside her. Her phone vibrated but she didn't look to see who texted her, she had been ignoring the text messages she had been getting.

'_Where the hell could this place be?' _She thought, she had looked every way for any clues about how the Akatsuki got here. She had visions about the clues, wrote them down or drew them, but it was trying to find the exact location that was hard.

She sighed when she had walked out into a clearing, the one she saw in her vision. In the middle of the clearing was a small, abandoned shack. Moss grew up it and the wood seemed to rot with age, she tied Otis' leash to a nearby tree and walked around the area, looking…

Until she found it, she had nearly stepped on it but slowly stepped back. On the other side of the shack was a circle, or what looked like a summoning circle. But around it was and inside of it was Japanese writing and strange symbols that Annie couldn't understand. She took her iPhone out, taking a few pictures of the strange symbol, then slipping it back into her pocket.

A branch snapped nearby, along with a rustling of leaves. _'I'm not alone? Somebody followed me.' _Otis was calm though, sitting near the trees. Annie reached into her other pocket, where her knife was. After a few minutes of looking around, there were no more noises. "Okay Otis, let's go."

They headed back home, Annie decided to use another trail back, the trail seeming to be oddly familiar to her. She walked in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest. For a moment, she wondered if she would be able to enjoy this peace again, after the Akatsuki went back to their world. But that hope had seemed to be lost, even Annie couldn't understand why but she had a feeling that maybe everything would change.

Otis stopped to pee behind a tree, Annie replied to the text messages she received from Zana and Sam. That was when it started to rain lightly and Annie cursed herself for not at least bringing a sweater with her. She turned around, but almost screamed. Itachi stood there, staring at her, rain drops dripping down his ink black hair.

"You know… You could have actually said something instead of scaring me like that," Annie snapped

"I'm sorry," He said quietly "Perhaps I should not have scared you like that."

Annie sighed "Well, you did-"

"What are you doing out here by yourself anyways?" He asked, moving closer towards her. Annie put a hand on his chest to keep him away, she was surprised with herself for doing that.

"What do you want from me Itachi?" She asked "You appear in front of me out of nowhere and don't even really talk to me… So you must want something from me?"

Itachi stared at her, frowning "They want something from you… But I don't. Maybe there's one thing I want from you that that they don't care about."

"And what's that?"

"I want you to trust me," He said simply, the rain started pouring harder, causing Annie to shiver.

"And how is that different from what they want?" Annie said sharply "Maybe you and the rest of them can somehow trust me. But how am I supposed to trust you?"

Itachi grabbed her arm, turning her towards him "So you can't trust me… Yet you've been having visions of me? The Akatsuki could care less if you trust them, all they care about is trusting you. Because you can help them."

"… You…" Annie spoke, looking at Otis who sitting on the ground "You're not like them…"

"Maybe I'm not," Itachi explained "But for now, you must agree to helping the Akatsuki."

"Itachi… I don't know if I can. I've only known you and these other people for three days," Annie explained "I need time… This is way too much pressure in like… Three days!"

"I know that and I understand." Itachi froze suddenly, looking around "But there not much time to decide. You have to decide soon, I will see you later Annie."

"Wait-" Annie yelled, but he disappeared so quickly. When she looked up, he was high up in the tree and then he was gone, jumping from tree to tree at a non-human speed. She watched as he went, wondering just who he was and what he wanted.

XXXXXXX

"There you are," Kisame yelled, Itachi walked towards him from the distance, observing the lake. Kisame currently sat on the sandy shore of the lake, watching the rain fall as he waited for him. It had not seemed so long ago that they had met like this, before and after their missions. "You took your sweet time, where were you?"

"I had something to do," Itachi said, sitting beside him.

Kisame smirked "You talk to Annie, didn't you?"

"I did," Itachi admitted

"Did she decide yet?"

"She's still not ready to decide. It's a hard decision to make after all, especially after a few days." Itachi explained.

"She's not like us after all," Kisame said "I don't think she can handle what we do. A girl like her needs thicker skin to deal with criminals like us."

Itachi frowned "No one would want or could be like us."

It was silent between them for a moment, both of them looking out towards the lake. Kisame sighed, leaning back on his elbows and letting the rain fall on his face, the water feeling cool on his skin. "It's funny, I had accepted death so easily, had accepted that maybe I was not a terrible person… But now here we are, alive. Do you think that we're getting a second chance or something?"

"I never believed that was possible," Itachi said thoughtfully "We shouldn't even be alive…"

"After all we've done? No, we shouldn't be…" Kisame mumbled "But maybe terrible people like us don't deserve an honorable death. I guess that's all bullshit as well. But who the hell is able to bring us back from the dead, to a different world?"

"Who knows…" Itachi muttered "I'm assuming that we will find out."

Kisame looked at him "Do you think… Annie had something to do with all of it? That maybe she's connected to all of this?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Out of those four girls, only one of them had a unique ability. They explained to me that no one in this world has any ability like that, and to see the future, is a rare ability, even to find in Shinobi. Do you remember what Pain said about her? That she's one of us, not one of them. Besides, you've seen her before haven't you?"

"Maybe I have…" Itachi said softly "But even I can't really figure this out, she might know more than we do."

* * *

As soon as she got home, Annie went up to her room and closed the door. It was raining even harder out, pattering against the windows of the house. She sat at her desk, turning on her Mac book and then opening safari.

'_I want you to trust me.' _Itachi's words did not seem to leave her mind, repeating them self over and over. She opened her email, looking at the pictures she sent to herself. Thankfully, Annie knew how to read Japanese, all she had to do now was to figure out what exactly it had said in the strange symbol.

She opened each picture she took, rearranging it in the order she took the pictures. Once she had done that, she opened up her sketch book, drawing the symbol from both memory and from the photos she had taken. Setting the pencil down, she read the Japanese Kanji.

"Gateway to the other world," She muttered, writing it down in English just below the symbol she had drawn. Closing her Mac book, she made her way downstairs, bringing her sketchbook and her phone with her.

Zana and Sam were in the living room, watching re-runs of CSI: Miami. Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori and Deidara were in the room as well, seeming to be intrigued by the crime show.

"What's up Annie?" Zana said "You wanna go out in a bit? Me and Sam are bored and could use some… 'Freedom'"

"Yeah, Sure," Annie shrugged "But I need to talk to Pain first… Anyone know where he is?"

"He's upstairs, in the office," Kakuzu said, Annie thanked him and then went upstairs. She walked up the stairs slowly, feeling nervous about facing Pain. The door to the office was a jar, when she walked closer, she could hear voices. Stopped by the door, leaning in closely to hear what they were saying.

"It's rude to eavesdrop," A voice spoke, it took her a second to realize that the voice came from inside the room. Annie froze, moving slowly towards the door but before she could even reach for the door knob, someone opened it. Kisame looked down at her, a look that would instantly make you feel intimidated.

"Um… Hi…" Annie stammered, feeling embarrassed for being caught eaves dropping. "I-"

"Kisame, bring her in," Pain spoke from inside the room. Nodding he pulled Annie by the arm, shoving her into the room and closing the door behind him.

The office was big, most people probably wouldn't even consider it to be an office. But her Dad had always called it that, doing his paperwork in here. In the right hand corner of the room was a grand piano, a book shelf behind it holding large travel books, text books, classic literature, and most of all, some of Annie's favourite YA and fantasy novels. In the left hand corner of the room was a large mahogany desk, an iMac on top of it. Pain sat at the desk, looking at the computer strangely as if he was trying to figure out how it worked. Konan stood behind him and Itachi sat on the window edge, resting his head against the frame. Annie felt her heart stop seeing Itachi there, apparently there was no way to avoid him.

"Well, I see you've made yourself at home here," Annie said dryly "And all the lights are off of course, how fitting for a group of criminals."

Pain looked at her, staring at her down "Why are you wet?"

"I decided to take a shower in my clothes, I was getting bored of showering naked," Annie said sarcastically "Actually I took my dog Otis for a walk."

Kisame rolled his eyes, sighing "That's really nice Annie, is that why you came here, to tell us about how you shower?"

"No, I came here to give you advice on taking over the world."

"Stop with the sarcasm," Pain snapped "Annie, what do you want?"

"Well it's not about what I want, it's about what you might want," Annie explained, she opened her sketchbook to the drawing, turning it towards Pain "It's called 'Gateway to the other world' I suppose you've seen this?"

"Where the hell did you find this?" Konan asked

Annie sighed "Well, I didn't just go out to walk my dog… I went to find that. I'm pretty sure I had a vision of this, a while ago actually. But luckily I had another one."

"Why didn't you tell me before you found this that you had a vision about it?" Pain asked "And how were you able to read this?"

"I can read Japanese and speak it. Having visions of the future isn't my only talent you know; I'm capable of other things." Annie shrugged

Itachi now stood beside her now, leaning over to look at the drawing "That's Fuinjutsu… This is… Quite different though."

"That's true," Without warning, Pain snatched the sketchbook from Annie's hands "Do you think you can figure it out Itachi?"

"Maybe, but I will need time," Itachi said, glancing at Annie.

Pain stared at the drawing, he was about to flip the page of the sketchbook but Annie snatched it away from his hand as quickly as she could "No!"

"What was that for? Too shy to show off your artwork?" Kisame snickered

"It's considered rude to look through someone's stuff without permission," Annie snapped, glaring at him "And to take it from them without asking!"

"Hm," Pain grunted "We have other important matters to take care of. Leave. Now."

Annie glared at him "You're welcome. Me, Zana and Sam might be going out for a bit anyways, so you won't have to deal with our crap."

He said something back to her, but Annie didn't hear it as she had already stormed out of the room. Sam and Zana were still in the living room watching T.V. Sighing, she sat down on the couch, looking at the clock. It was only about three o'clock, the day seemed to be going by slowly and Annie just wanted it to end.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, she was looking through the paper, most likely out of sheer boredom considering she never even read the paper.

"Um, yeah…" Annie muttered "I just need to get out of the house for a bit."

"Agreed," Zana groaned "I'm tired of watching CSI: Miami and Criminal Minds re-runs, let's go do something somewhat fun…"

Annie snorted "Is there even something fun to do in this town anymore?"

"There never was," Sam explained "Except for when the fair comes to town, that's always fun."

"That's a shitty carnival though and the guys who work at it are sick creeps," Zana explained "But I guess it's better than nothing…"

"Hey I'm getting real tired of being stuck in this fucking house as well," Hidan complained "It wouldn't hurt to go outside…"

"NO!" Annie, Zana and Sam all yelled at once. Hidan growled, slumping in his seat cursing under his breath, something about human sacrifices.

Annie stood up, looking through the sliding door. It had stopped raining and the gray clouds were starting to separate, the sun peaking through. This was normal B.C. weather, it would rain, and then stop, then become warm and sunny in the same day. Her and Zana both liked to call B.C's weather 'bipolar weather' even though it wasn't always bipolar.

"We should go to the beach," Annie said "Airforce beach?"

Both Sam and Zana agreed, going up to Annie's room to get changed quickly before they left. Annie grabbed her car keys and her sketchbook, throwing it into her bag along with the book _City of Fallen Angels. _Zana and Sam bolted down the stairs slamming open the door and running outside as if they were trapped there for days, Annie peeked her head into the living room "We're going out for a bit, we'll be back."

She turned around to head out the door but nearly walked right into Itachi "Where are you going?"

"Uh… We're going to the beach… You know, doing normal people things," Annie said quietly, feeling her face turning red from being so close to Itachi.

"I'm coming with you."

"No you're not!" She snapped, she knew it was stupid to act like this around Itachi, but she didn't care at the moment. She stiffened expecting him to hit her, but he only looked at her blankly. Almost like an adult would look at a child.

"Whoa, calm down, you're not the boss here, un," Deidara laughed, Annie glared at him in response but he only smirked.

"Is this some excuse to keep stalking me?" Annie hissed

"Not my decision. Pain told me that if you go out at anytime, me or any other Akatsuki member should go with you," Itachi explained "Be thankful it's not and not Hidan, let's go."

Zana and Sam came back inside "What the hell is taking you so long?"

"Itachi's joing us," Annie said, with a fake happy tone

"Um, dressed like that?" Sam questioned "He should put something else on."

"What do you mean?" Itachi asked

Annie looked at him "What you're wearing is considered… Not normal apparel in our world."

"So then what am I going to wear instead?"

Annie rolled her eyes, grabbing Itachi by the arm and heading back up to her room. Once they were inside, she went into her walk in closet, pulling out some men's clothing that laid in pile on the floor. She pulled out a pair of shorts, the only ones that were there and a few t-shirts, walking out her closet she handed them to Itachi. "Try these on, see if they fit."

"May I ask why you have these clothes?" Itachi asked, Annie felt embarrassed again at the question, looking away from him.

"They were my ex-boyfriends'…" Annie grumbled "He had a habit of leaving his clothes here when he stayed the night."

To her surprise, Itachi smirked but walked into her closet to try the clothes on. She looked away, awkwardly playing with her hair _'Huh, so a guy I've been dreaming out who's trying to convince me to trust him is now in my closet putting on my ex-boyfriends clothes. He's evil most likely and has killed people, yet here I am. In my room with him. Just the two of us.'_

It was a few seconds before she realized he was standing front of her, he was wearing a pair of orang, blue and grey Billabong shorts and a gray V-nect T-shirt. "You look… Normal… But the eyes…"

He blinked and his red eyes faded to a jet black, Annie gasped "Sharingan," He pointed out "It's an eye technique."

She just nodded heading back downstairs, Sam and Zana looked at her weirdly but she just shrugged. Fiddling with her car keys, she headed outside, getting into the driver's seat of the Jeep. Itachi stood away from it, seeming to be confused by the car. Sam told him to get into the passenger's seat and he silently obliged, staring at the seat belt before he buckled it.

"I called shot gun though," Zana complained

"Too bad," Annie said, plugging her iPhone in and playing _Party Rock Anthem _by LMFAO. She started the car, backing it out of the driveway and heading out to Air force beach.

The drive to Air force beach was quiet; Itachi did not speak at all but observed everything they drove by. Occasionally, Annie felt him look at her and only a few times did she glance at him and then quickly look away, not wanting to stare at him for too long. There was an odd tension between them, but Annie refused to believe that there was one. All she wanted was to be normal, but normal was becoming an almost foreign word.

When they reached the beach, Sam and Zana jumped out of the car running down the hill, Annie followed them, almost tripping as she ran on the sand. She stopped to put her stuff on the ground, leaning her bag against a large driftwood log. The sky was clear and blue, the warmth of the sand felt inviting on her feet, she breathed in the air, the familiar smell of salt and seaweed.

"Ah! It's cold!" Zana yelled, she ran away from the water towards her.

"It's the ocean idiot, of course it's going to be cold," Annie laughed, Itachi stood by her, looking out towards the water. "So are you going to swim or not?"

"No… I don't think so," Zana shook her head "Maybe I will… Later."

Annie rolled her eyes "Oh come on Zana, remember what I told you a few days ago? Fear doesn't shut you down it wakes you up. So just go for it."

"Yeah, yeah," Sam said "That's a quote from a book… But I agree, let's get Zana in the water."

"By force?!" Zana screamed "Guys! I can do it myself- AHH!"

Annie and Sam grabbed Zana by her arms and dragged her out towards the water, she screamed in protest and as they got into the water she shrieked. Annie and Sam laughed and eventually Zana gave up and stopped screaming, walking into the water slowly.

"Okay… This isn't so bad," Zana explained

"You know who would laugh so hard at this?" Annie said "Kisame."

"I don't like him, he's an asshole," Zana said "But he gave me the last cookie, so that makes up a little for the asshole part of him."

"Awww, Zana has a crush!" Annie teased "Kisame and Zana, sitting in a tree-"

"**I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU ANNIE IF YOU DON'T STOP!" **Zana roared, but Annie just laughed, splashing her with water. "HEY! What the hell!"

Annie laughed, continuing to splash her and Sam with water "Hey I'm just teasing…"

"Vengeance!" Zana yelled, splashing water at Sam and Annie. It had soon turned into a splashing war, but Annie had a different plan. Moving closer to Zana, she grabbed her by the shoulders and dunked her into the water, laughing as she released her. "You will pay for that Annie!"

"Not unless you can catch me first," Annie grinned, swimming away from them. Zana and Sam followed, laughing as Zana attempted to catch Annie but she was faster. They stopped, not feeling comfortable swimming out farther but Annie kept swimming, the cold ocean waves splashing her face. She was aware that she was farther out then she might have intended to be, but it didn't matter, she felt free when she was in the water.

"Hey guys you should-" There was suddenly a strange flash, and instead of seeing the water she was seeing blood. Dead bodies floating in the water, with what looked to be ships burning in the distance, no, they weren't in the distance, they were around her. She could barely see the sky, only ashes and smoke, but something moved through it, a plane? She looked closely again, but it had disappeared. The next moment, she was not in the water but on land. Everything here was burning, bloody and burnt corpses everywhere. When she raised her hands, they were covered in blood. _'No… Oh God no…' _She tried to wipe it off, but she was covered in it, from her hair to her feet, she renched of blood.

"What the hell… No, NO!" Still the blood didn't go away, and no matter how hard she tried to wipe it away, more seemed to appear. Soon the whole ground was covered in blood, slowly turning into a small pool of it and going up to her knees. Annie screamed, trying to run away but she couldn't move.

"Annie!"

"Stop! Stop it!" She cried "STOP!"

"ANNIE!"

She gasped, raising her head from the water. Someone had their arms around her, when she looked, Itachi stared at her holding her tightly.

"What the fuck just happened there?" Zana yelled

"I… Don't know…" Annie whispered "I need to get out of the water."

She tried to move but realized she was shaking, Itachi grabbed her by her waist, helping her get back to shore. For some reason, all the tension and nervousness left as Itachi held her, Annie refused to believe that it was because of him but relaxed once they reached the sand, sitting down on the sand and leaning against a large driftwood log.

"Dude, are you okay?" Zana asked

Annie shook her head, shivering "I don't know… I don't know what the hell just happened."

"Well at least you're alive," Sam said quietly, who looked at Itachi "If Itachi wasn't out there, you would probably be dead. You would have drowned."

Annie looked at him but he was looking out across the water, the wind blowing his black hair out of his face. There was a moment where none of them spoke, they simply all looked at each other strangely, trying to figure out what happened. Annie didn't have to figure it out, she already knew what happened of course. She had seen the future, but this vision was unlike any she had before.

"Uh… Sam why don't we go up to the store to get some snacks?" Zana suggested "Do you need anything Annie?"

"Just a bottle of water," She said. Sam and Zana nodded, making their way back up the hill to the store.

Itachi only glanced at them as they left turning his gaze to Annie, who sighed. He stared at her, but seemed to be thinking something as well and Annie found herself staring back at him, almost unsure of what to say.

"Has that happened before?" He asked quietly, sitting down beside her.

"No…" Annie replied "It hasn't… But… Why did you save me?"

He blinked, not replying to her question. He only looked away, seeming to be in thought again. Annie didn't bother to ask again, he didn't seem to be the type to be that talkative. But for some reason, she wanted to say more to him "You're not like the rest of them are you?"

That got his attention, he looked at her, still quiet and she continued talking "I mean… Well… Hidan claims he's immortal, Kakuzu's overly obsessed with money, Sasori's a puppet… Deidara is obsessed with blowing stuff up and he looks like teenage boy struggling with his sexuality or gender. Pain seems like a robot… Zetsu's a plant, and Kisame's a shark man… Who is also kind of scary and twisted. I mean you compared to them, you're definitely not that twisted… I mean I guess, what I'm trying to say is that you don't seem evil… Or excessively evil if that makes sense. To me, you seem actually… Somewhat normal."

Annie realized that she was speaking all of these things out of honesty, and realized that this was how she felt about Itachi. Embarassed, she looked away "Sorry, I tend to talk too much… It's a bad habit I guess."

"That's okay." He said, Annie felt somewhat relieved knowing that maybe she didn't make a complete fool out of herself just then. Reaching for her bag, she opened it to get out her sketchbook, but when she reached in and felt around for it, it wasn't there.

"What the hell?" She looked into her bag, but her sketchbook wasn't there. She knew she put it in her bag before she left the house, where could it have gone?

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked

"My sketchbook is gone…" Annie sighed "I swore I put it into my bag… But it's not here…"

He didn't say anything for a moment "You might have left it at home."

"Maybe… But I put it in here…" She muttered. Her stomach dropped when she realized that maybe, somehow one of the Akatsuki members might have snatched it from her bag when she wasn't looking. _'No, no… I would have seen it…' _She reassured herself that maybe it was in her car instead.

But Annie knew she had to think of the worst. At that moment she was sure yet unsure of her choice, but she knew that she had to make the decision, it was now or never after all, right? She knew her father would kill her for this and her mother would try to ground her for life. Yet Annie never thought too much about this, she thought only of the future, of the Akatsuki and of her friends. What fate would lie before them? Whatever it was, she knew it wouldn't be the greatest and that the rest of the summer, or the next few years might be hell.

'_Don't worry about it, I'm brave… I'm brave for making such a stupid decision.' _She thought _'I might be fucking up my own life right now anyways…_

"Itachi," She said, taking a deep breath.

"Yes?" He said looking at her with curiousity, seeming to sense something wrong.

"I've made my decision and my answer is yes… I will help you and the Akatsuki."

* * *

**AND BAM! There you go, the end of Chapter 4! Please send reviews guys, it helps me stay more motivated on updating my story. I always enjoy positive feedback!**


	5. Visions

**OH GOSH I'M SORRY FOR A REALLY LATE UPDATE. I'm kind of having writers block and it sucks, so I'm sorry if the chapter is kind of shitty.**

**Also, I'm debating whether or not I should change the rating of this story to M. Since there will be graphic violence on some points later in the story, I'm still unsure whether I should just have it rated T or change it to M. What are your guys' thoughts?**

* * *

Chapter 5: Visions

Time slowed down, even though it seemed to always slow in moments of tension it seemed to go slower when your two best friends were currently looking at you as if about to kill you. Annie scratched her ear, clearing her throat. Itachi stood beside her but said nothing, looking out in the distance, which he seemed to do a lot.

"I hope you're not serious about this Annie…" Zana said quietly "I really fucking hope you're not serious about this…"

"She is." Sam said flatly "But I can't be mad I guess, I mean what other choice do we have?"

Zana ground her teeth, glaring at Sam "Have at least a little reason! It's only been about three days? And yet Annie… You just chose to make this decision of helping these guys without our input?!"

"She made the right choice." Itachi reassured, even though the tone of his voice didn't sound too reassuring. Annie wondered if he was tired of hearing Zana complain or was really was confident that she made the right choice. A few minutes after she made her decision, she told Zana and Sam what she told Itachi. Sam had reacted a bit better than Zana, not getting too angry, but still angry to the point that she questioned Annie's thinking. Zana though was enraged and Sam had to take Zana away for a few minutes to try to calm her down. After that, they talked for a bit about the situation but Zana refused to believe that any of it was really happening.

"Okay, are you saying that to convince me or something?" Zana snapped "You're a murderer, a freak… I can't trust you."

"It seems that would take a lot of convincing otherwise," Itachi said plainly

Annie rolled her eyes "I think we can trust him Zana, you don't have to trust anyone else, but you can trust him."

"Oh, there you go… Of course you're already trusting the pretty boy, have a crush on him or something?" Zana said sarcastically, Annie's cheeks burned with embarrassment, trying to hid her face.

"Zana, Sam… Let's go for a walk shall we?"

Annie quickly made her way to the shore of the beach, Zana following behind her. Sam hesitated for a moment, looking at Itachi "Um… You wait here, this… Is kind of a private conversation."

Annie walked quickly, the wet sand holding no appeal to her anymore along with the cool salt water. Her face still felt flushed with embarrassment from what Zana said, she was quiet, her eyes narrowed as she walked beside her, Sam fell in pace beside them looking back at where Itachi stood.

"Sorry Annie, I shouldn't have said that," Zana confessed "I'm just confused."

"I understand, just be glad you're not me…" Annie said "With a lot of the shit that I have to deal with, I'd say that you're lucky."

Zana was quiet for a moment before speaking again, her voice almost a whisper "You've been having visions about him haven't you?"

"Itachi you mean? What makes you think that…"

"Oh God, from the millions of drawings of him in your sketchbook," Zana pointed out "I… Looked through your sketchbook while you went to the washroom during art class. I was curious to see what you were always drawing…"

"I know that you did, Zana," Annie couldn't help but laugh "And to answer your other question… Yes, I've been having… Dreams… Uh, I mean visions about him."

"For how long?" Sam asked

Annie frowned "Um… A few years now."

"… How many years exactly?"

"Well I started having visions about him when I was around 12 I think."

"Dude," Zana gawked "That's like 5 years… That's not normal."

"I know it isn't, but every vision I've had, he's always been trying to help me… To protect me," Annie explained "And it's weird because something is telling me to trust him yet a part of me is refusing to… But I think our best bet is to trust him okay?"

Zana sighed "I guess I can trust him… It's just Kisame I can't trust or the rest of them… Especially Hidan, he's creepy as hell. And have you seen the way he looks at us? Like we're some kind of meat or something."

"Look…" Annie said "When we go home I can show you my drawings and my journal as well, because I've been writing this stuff down."

"I thought you brought your sketchbook with you," Sam said

"It somehow went missing…" Annie said "I thought I put in my bag, but I can't find it, I even checked the car."

Sam just shook her head, looking puzzled "That's strange I wonder who took it…"

Annie didn't say anything, she only sighed, maybe having an idea of who took it but refusing to believe that one of the Akatsuki did take it. The thought made her sick, but she tried pushing it away as her Sam, Zana and Itachi headed back to the car.

Xxxxxx

The sunlight streamed into the room, casting a golden glow among the walls, small dust motes floating in the air. Pain observed the room quietly as Konan stood beside him, still and quiet as well. Tobi sat in one of the armchairs, flipping through a sketchbook, Annie's sketchbook. Kisame looked over his shoulder at the book, snickering at one point.

"Very interesting," Tobi said, though Pain knew Tobi wasn't his real name "Not just her artistic talent but what she's been drawing as well."

Konan shifted, looking at him with suspicion in her eyes "How did you get it anyways?"

"Deidara took it out of her bag while she was talking with Itachi," Tobi explained "I dared him to do it, and of course he did, she didn't notice of course. I was curious to see what else she had drawn after you told me about what she found earlier."

"Anything else of interest?" Pain asked

"Tch, lots of drawings of Itachi," Kisame grinned

"That and this… It's an Oak tree," Tobi held the drawing up for them to see. Pain stared at the detailed drawing of the Oak tree, it seemed to be an old one, it's branches stretching out and curving out to the edges of the page. At the bottom of the page was a date, May 12th 2011.

"What does the date mean?" Pain asked

"There's multiple drawings of this tree, each with a different date. There's one in here from 2000," Tobi explained "The same is with the drawings of Itachi, there are more drawings of him then of the tree. The earliest date of one I found is the date February 3rd 2009."

"This means that these pictures that she's drawing are of visions that she's been having more than once," Konan said "Which explains the dates…"

"Exactly," Tobi said, a hint of what seemed to be amusement in his voice "Which is why I should ask her a few things about this."

"You will not interrogate her or hurt her," Pain said "Remember the deal…"

Tobi looked at him, from the one eyehole of his mask his eye glinted red "She seems stubborn to answer our questions, besides, what if she fails us in the end?"

"She won't. I'll make sure of that, we'll make sure of that," Pain explained, looking at Konan who nodded.

"I think someone like her, has the potential to be a very powerful Kunoichi," Tobi said "But none the less, it would be a waste if we had to kill her."

He set the sketch book down on the desk and then left the room. Pain stared at the sketchbook, it was open to a page with a Japanese dragon, it's red scales glinting gold as flames surrounded it. In the drawing, it seemed to be breaking free from a cage, it's mouth opened in a roar of victory and the tips of it's horns burning red.

Xxxxx

Annie slammed the door once they were inside the house, sighing and leaning against it. From the living room, the T.V. was on, it sounded like the News. Sam and Zana were quiet and didn't move, all looking at eachother.

"We're back," Annie yelled. It was a habit of hers to yell that whenever she got home, whether it was from school or work. She walked up to the living room, pausing at the entry way. All the Akatsuki were there and looking at her, as if something strange had happened.

"Annie-Chan!" Tobi yelled, running up to her. Annie backed away though as he got closer to her, when she glanced down, she saw he was holding a sketchbook. Her sketchbook.

"Tobi, where the hell did you get that?" She snapped, she grabbed for the Sketchbook but he backed away, giggling. "It's disrespectful to take someone's stuff idiot, give it back!"

"I'm sorry Annie-Chan, I didn't take it in the first place," He said, handing back her notebook, she noticed that Deidara and Kisame were snickering "Deidara took it."

Annie turned to him "Want to explain yourself asshole?"

"I was curious to see your artwork, since everyone here was talking about it, un," Deidara grinned, walking over to her "It was interesting, it was very… Nice."

"Hey blondie, show her my favourite picture," Hidan yelled. Without any warning, Deidara snatched the sketchbook from her hands. Flipping through the pages, he showed it to her. Annie felt her face burn, staring at the most recent picture she drew of Itachi. She was aware that Deidara and Hidan were laughing at her and everyone else was looking at her. She tried to look away but couldn't and she felt as if she couldn't breath. It wasn't just embarrassment, it was almost like being bullied, like the way it was back in Elementary and Middle school.

"Yeah, this is very nice, un," Deidara snickered. Annie knew that Itachi was standing behind her, but she couldn't bear to look at him. For a moment she forgot everything, everything but her anger. This was a moment where it was hard to control her anger. _'Just breathe' _her school counselors and therapist had told her.

Right beside the doorway was a decorative mirror, under it was table and in the drawers was a gun. Annie looked at the mirror, just barely able to stand to see her own reflection. She was surprised she wasn't crying yet, she reached to the handle of the drawer but a hand gripped her wrist. Itachi glanced at her for only a second before snatching the sketchbook from Deidara's hands, glaring at him nastily.

"That's enough, Deidara," He said coldly.

"What the hell, un?!" He snapped "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He stared at him, raising an eyebrow "Not being an idiot, unlike you."

"Tch, always think that you're so tough, un," Deidara snarled, he moved closer to Itachi, glaring him down "I could have beat you that day, I want a second match."

"So that he can kick your ass again?" Kisame laughed "I'd pay to see that."

"Oh fuck…" Zana muttered, grabbing Annie by the arm and pulling her away from Deidara and Itachi. The T.V. was now and all the Akatsuki were now on their feet, observing the two Shinobi. Annie's hand reached back for the drawer, her palms sweaty as she slowly opened it.

"Shut up!" Deidara hissed his face growing flushed with anger "I'm not the one who seems to be strangely obsessed with a random teenage girl."

Annie bit her lip, holding back a laugh "It seems to me you might be jealous Deidara. I've gotten quite a few compliments about how hot I am after all."

"Stay out of this," Kakuzu glared at her, and she decided to keep quiet for now.

"Oh come on, fucking fight already!" Hidan hollered "I want some entertainment!"

"Seriously?!" Zana yelled "Are you fucking 12 or something? We're not going to let them fight it out inside the house. Pain, tell them to stop!"

"They're not really doing anything," Sam pointed out, Annie's hand slipped inside the drawer, quietly but swiftly pulling out the hand gun "They're just glaring at eachother."

"Yeah but we got ourselves into the middle of a-"

"Shut up you two!" Deidara yelled "They're both so useless and annoying I don't understand why we have to deal with them."

"Because one of them is going to help us," Itachi explained

Deidara rolled his eyes, Annie's heart pounded as he reached into the small pouch that held his clay, no, it was a kunai. Without a moment's hesitation Annie stepped between them aiming the gun at Deidara and pulling the trigger. But she had missed, the bullet just grazing his left ear and flying out the open sliding door. He screamed holding his ear which was now bleeding, but Annie rolled her eyes.

"That's pathetic," Annie said "You like to blow things up yet a small bullet scares the shit out of you… You looked like a deer right there, just before they get shot and killed."

"What the hell is that thing, un?! Deidara yelled.

"It's a gun, what we use as weapons in this world," Annie explained, but before being able to explain further, someone's phone started ringing. The familiar ring of an iPhone echoing through the room.

"Annie, that's your… Phone… Um, it's in your pocket," Sam said quietly.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket, looking at the screen and groaning. She answered the call anyways "Hello?"

"Hi sweetheart," Her dad's familiar gruff voice seemed to ring into her head "How are things going?"

"Oh Dad, things… Are going great fantastic!" Annie said in the most enthusiastic tone she could muster. Everyone in the room was looking at her now, Zana rolled her eyes.

"Soo… What have you three trouble makers been doing?" He asked, sarcastically.

Annie laughed, it was a somewhat nervous laugh since Deidara now held a Kunai in his hand "What we do best Dad… Staying out of trouble! You know… We've… Been to Stotem falls, went to the beach today, binge watched T.V. shows and movies… Oh we watched Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 1, it was surprisingly… Good."

"Really? I thought you hated Twilight."

"Not really I guess…" Annie said, looking at the Akatsuki with a nervous smile "Um… I think I should go now Dad… Me, Zana and Sam have plans to go out again…"

"Are you sure everything's alright?" He asked

"Oh yeah! Everything's fine, but I'll talk to you later…"

"Alright… Your mom sent you an email by the way, you should skype with her soon okay?" He said

"I definitely will, Dad," Annie said "I'll talk to you later."

After her Dad said goodbye, Annie ended the call, looking at the rest of the Akatsuki. She then felt the edge of a knife at her throat and froze "Okay, what did… I say about fighting inside the house?"

"You're the one that attacked me- AH!" Itachi had threw Deidara across the room, slamming into one of the couches. He pushed Annie back toward the entry way of the living room, Sam grabbing her arm.

Annie's vision started to blur, like earlier. _'No, this can't be happening now…' _All the voices around her seemed to be mere echoes now, replaced with different voices. Someone was shaking her arm, trying to snap her back to reality.

"Annie are you okay?" Sam said, she shook her head as if she were in a dream.

"I… I don't think I feel so good… Honestly." She said quietly "I'm going to my room, you can deal with them…"

She walked out of the living room, faster than she anticipated. Zana yelled at her but she couldn't hear her, she was hearing something else, voices, but she didn't know exactly where they were coming from. Once she walked into her room, she slammed the door behind her, locking it.

Laying on the bed, she closed her eyes, and opened them again. Everything seemed to be snapping back and forth from reality to dreaming.

'_What the hell is happening to me…'_

Xxxx

Sam and Zana looked at eachother, confused yet concerned about Annie's antics. She had left her bag on top of the table, but brought her phone and sketchbook up to her room with her.

"What's wrong with her?" Konan asked, looking at Zana and Sam suspiciously.

"Um… I don't know, she wasn't feeling good earlier," Sam explained.

Pain just looked at them and back at Deidara "Control yourself, Deidara."

Deidara only growled, leaving the living room. Zana and Sam decided to go outside onto the deck, sitting in the lounge chairs. For a few minutese they just sat there, watching the sun start to set. Zana's phone vibrated, she looked at the screen, it was a text from Annie. Swiping the screen, she opened the text to read it:

_I'm not feeling good right now, I just need to be left alone for awhile._

"She sent me the same text," Sam said "After what happened today… Maybe that's why she isn't feeling well."

"You think so?" Zana muttered "Everything now… It's just going to change isn't it?"

Sam smiled, a sad smile "Of course it is… I'm going to get something to eat, you want anything?"

"Uh… Okay, can you heat me up some of those pizza pops?" She asked "Also, can you get me a coke as well?"

She nodded, going back inside. Zana browsed through the apps on her phone, deciding to go on Tumblr. Absent mindly, she scrolled through her Tumblr dashboard, putting one earphone in to listen to music. There were footsteps on the deck as someone walked outside, but Zana paid no mind, thinking it was Sam.

"Hey I found this-" She screamed though as she looked up. It was not Sam but Kisame, sitting on the lounge chair beside her.

"Really?" He said "That's not the nicest greeting to receive."

"Do I look like I care? Because you're definitely not the most attractive… Sight… I mean person… To look at." She stammered, feeling her face flush from embarrassment.

He laughed "Ouch… That hurts."

"Oh, suck it up," Zana said, continuing to look through Tumblr posts on her iPhone.

"I was being sarcastic," He said "What's wrong with Annie?"

"I don't know, she isn't feeling good… She's feeling sick," Zana said, avoiding eye contact with him. She had often felt uncomfortable around Kisame, especially when the two were alone like right now.

"You are a very bad liar, has anyone else ever told you that?" He said, narrowing his eyes "Now I'll ask again, what's wrong with her?"

Zana ripped her ear plug out setting her phone on the arm rest of her chair, she turned towards Kisame glaring at him "Why don't you ask Itachi? He might know something."

"He doesn't know what happened to her today, she won't come out of her room. That's why I figured I would ask you," He explained "I mean, you're her best friend you should at least have an idea of what's happening to her."

"I have more than an idea, I've… Had to help her with a lot stuff she's gone through."

Kisame raised an eyebrow "Like what?"

"Well… Uh… Since Annie didn't know or believe she was having visions of the future… So her parents made her go see a therapist or a Psychiatrist… The psychiatrist said that she might have had FTD, Frontotemporal Dementia. Well, she said that Annie was showing some symptons of it," Zana explained "It's a brain disease that causes cell damages… Basically, it causes tissue shrinkage and uh, reduced functioned in the brains frontal and temporal lobes. Of course the Frontal and temporal lobes control things such as planning, judgement, emotions, speaking and understanding speech. So um, the symptons of the disease are unwillingness to talk… Change in personality and mood… Depression, obsessive or repetive behaviour… And honestly, that's as much as I know."

"That's… Rough, what happened after that?" Kisame asked

"She went in for an MRI to see if her brain was showing any cell degeneration… But her brain is or was perfectly fine… So after that, her therapist gave her some kind of medicine to help with the visions, and right now she's fine… I think." Zana said quietly, realizing that talking about it made her sad, or hollow. "Before that, she was really, really depressed and would barely talk… It was as if she was drawing herself away from reality and for awhile we thought we were losing her… All of us were afraid that we were losing her in away. Her parents took it really hard, apparently her grandmother actually died of the disease, FTD, I mean."

Kisame was silent for moment, thinking about what Zana said "So, she never told you anything about her visions?"

"No… She didn't," Zana said "I mean she told us some stuff… But I think it would be better to ask her because you know, she's the one having the visions."

"Hmph, whatever," Kisame grumbled leaning back on the lounge chair with his hands behind his head. Zana did the same, looking up at the sky, unsure of what to say. Kisame didn't seem like the type for casual or random conversations, but she wanted to ask him something.

"Um… Kisame… Can I ask you something?" She asked, feeling slightly awkward.

"You already asked." He said, uninterested.

"Okay, well I'm going to ask you anyways…" Zana rolled her eyes "I was wondering… Have you heard of anyone having the same kind of ability that Annie has? Is it common?"

He shook his head, looking at her "Not at all, she's the first person we've heard of having this ability."

"Oh okay…" Zana said silently, she stared out in the distance but realized that Kisame was staring at her, making her feel more uncomfortable "Why are you starting at me like that?"

"It's nothing… You just kind of look like someone I know," He said and before Zana could reply, he got up and went back inside leaving her alone before for a few minutes before Sam came back outside.

"You okay?" She asked, handing her food to her.

Zana cringed "Yeah… I am, I guess."

XXX

_Tick tock, tick tock…_

Annie stared at the clock, her sketchbook on her lap and pencil in her hand. She was thinking of something but ended up zoning and staring at the clock instead. Looking back at the unfinished drawing, she sighed, choosing to pace around her room instead.

Ever since her vision from earlier that day, ever since the visits to her therapist, she started to think that maybe there was a way to control her visions. Maybe if she tried hard enough she could get a more clear vision instead of something blurry and confusing.

'_There must be a way for me to do this, maybe without the Akatsuki's help…' _she thought, biting her lip.

It had felt like hours, pacing back and forth in her room. At one point she lied on the hardwood floor of her bedroom, tapping her fingernails on the floor. For a moment, she wondered if she could be like Charles Xavier from _X-men_ and make some kind of device that would improve her powers like he did. But he was telepathic and Annie could see the future. In a way, she was like a mutant, she had always wanted to be one.

She had resorted to looking through her sketchbook, she flipped it open to the page of the most recent drawing of Itachi. Leaning her chin on her hand, she traced her fingers over the drawing, from the hair to the eyes. She had realized that Itachi's eyes were always red and never their true colour which was black. In her previous drawings of him, she realized that he was thinner and would always have his arm resting inside his cloak.

There was a knock at the door, Annie hastily closed her notebook, getting up from the floor and opening the door. She sighed in frustration, seeing Kakuzu waiting at the door with his arms crossed.

"Am I being summoned?" Annie said sarcastically

"Upstairs in the office," Kakuzu said, ignoring Annie's sarcasm. "Bring your sketchbook."

It was only in a few minutes that she found herself sitting one of the arm chairs in the office, Zana and Sam on either side of her. The Akatsuki all stood around them, staring at her as if for some kind of explanation. Kisame pulled a chair in front of him, the back facing them and sat in it, leaning his arms on the back of the chair.

"Oh God…" Annie groaned "He did the thing…"

Kisame raised an eyebrow "What thing?"

"The way you just sat in your chair, that's the 'You're in trouble so I'm gonna sit her and interrogate you forever' position," Annie explained "My Dad does it all the time, especially when I'm in trouble."

"Mr. Young does it sometimes," Zana added.

"That's not important," Pain explained, glaring at Zana. "What's important is figuring out how to get back to our world, with Annie's help."

Annie rolled her eyes "Is that why you took my sketchbook without asking my permission?"

"That was important information we needed."

"Which you could have asked me to look at…" Annie sighed "What exactly do you want me to do? "

"Anything to do with getting back to our world," Kisame said "Like that seal you found, if you could tell us more about it, if you know anything about it that is."

"Also…" Deidara added "If you could tell us when we will go back, that would be nice, hm."

Annie froze, starting to feel slight anxiety come over her like a wave. She did not do well under pressure "Uh… I guess, I could try. When do you… Want to… Know?"

"Now."

'_Jesus fucking Christ… I'm so gonna die.' _Annie thought biting her lip, she tapped her pencil on her notebook, over and over. A habit she had for whenever she felt anxious. Everyone in the room was looking at her, expecting for her to do something, but she couldn't. All the times she had a vision of the future it was… Uncontrolled, it would come into her mind at any random moment. But she couldn't figure out how to get an exact vision.

"I can't," Annie blurted out "I don't know how to do this… Whole looking into the future thing. This thing I have is not like an On and Off switch, I just… Can't control it."

"What the fuck is she talking about?" Hidan yelled "She has this… Incredible power yet she has no fucking idea how to use it? That's fucking stupid!"

"Okay seriously… Before any of you start bitching about how Annie can't do anything, let me explain," Zana yelled, much to her and Annie's surprise, they were quiet and focused their attention on her "So in this world… It's not believed at all that people can see the future, if Annie were to tell someone that she could, she would most likely be thrown into a mental hospital and be given a shit load of strange medicine. Does that make sense? I hope that makes sense. Because my best friend here just recently found out that she could see the future when her therapist told her that she had FTD. So no, of course she's not going to know how to control it! And if you really need help, maybe you can help her!"

"Help her, control her powers? How?" Kisame asked

Konan looked at Pain "I think it might actually be worth a shot."

"Um, I was being sarcastic on that part but sure… Let's try that…" Zana sighed "So… Annie how long have you been having these visions?"

Annie was silent for a moment, thinking about her question "I don't know… They probably started coming when I was in middle school… No, probably when I was 12."

"What's the point of asking questions like this?" Sasori asked

"Maybe it could help us figure out how to help her," Sam said.

Pain got up from the desk moving his chair and setting it down in front of Annie, this didn't help her anxiousness. He seemed to observe her for a moment before speaking "What types of visions have you been having?"

"Well, it's hard to remember because some of them seemed more like dreams…" Annie said "But I do remember now… I think I had one vision when I was around maybe 10. Uh… I was in the forest by myself I'm pretty sure and I started having this strange vision… There was a boy, he had blonde hair and whisker markings on his face… And his eyes were… Red. They kind of looked like a cats."

The whole Akatsuki were silent, looking at one another as if they knew something that any of the girls didn't know. Annie started to relax a bit, even though she didn't like the fact that she was pretty much being interrogated by a group of criminals.

"Maybe you're a banshee or something…" Zana suggested, shrugging.

Annie played with her hair, sighing at Zana's remark "Do you even know what a Banshee is? They're harbringers of death… Meaning, they scream when someone is about to die. I, for a fact, am not a harbringer of death… At least, I hope not."

"Have you had visions of anyone dying?" Pain asked

"No… Not yet." Annie shrugged, feeling sick at the idea of seeing someone die. "Isn't there some kind of Jutsu that helps with this?"

"No, because like we've said before… We've never seen or heard of anything like this," Konan explained "All Shinobi's abilities are unique, but this is beyond that."

Hidan, who had been surprisingly quiet, stood up and snatched the sketchbook out of Annie's hands. She yelled at him, trying to get it back, but smacked her across the head with it.

"Just calm the fuck down for a second, holy shit," Hidan growled "Because I don't know whether you assholes of thought of this yet or not… But you've all seen these drawings of hers haven't you? I would like to know why there's multiple drawings of Itachi and that strange ass tree, I mean, surely you would know it was a fucking vision if you were having multiple ones, am I right?"

"Holy shit, calm down buddy," Zana yelled, Hidan cursed at her and then Kakuzu yelled at Hidan to shut up. Soon enough, everyone one in the room erupted into yelling or arguing with eachother. Sam and Annie sat still, trying to pick up what any of them was yelling about.

"So… What are we making for dinner?" Sam asked, trying her best to ignore Hidan and Zana who were currently screaming at eachother. She winced when Hidan picked a chair up over his head, about to throw it at Zana, but he was stopped by Kakuzu.

Annie sighed, slumping down in her chair "I want pizza… Let's just order some fucking pizza."

* * *

**GAHHH I'M SO SORRY THAT WAS SUCH A LAME ASS ENDING! I couldn't help it though, I might have writers block and I just wanted to post the chapter so badly so that I can write the next one (if I can)**

**ALSO, I need some help... Do you guys have any particular headcanons about Kisame's and Hidan's pasts? If so, would you care to tell me in a PM or a review? Also, any headcanons as to what kind of 'romantics' Kisame and Itachi are? I just want to know other people's headcanons for 'reference'... Hehe.**

**Please read and review, it motivates me to update! :P**


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